By Matthew Tota
Timberyard Brewing Co. spent much of 2020 pivoting and belt-tightening.
The East Brookfield brewer furloughed all five of its part-time servers last March, then tried for the better part of the spring and summer to find the hours to piece its staff together again.
This year, though, Timberyard has already hired six new servers and a kitchen assistant. Production has increased by 200%, as the brewery signed a new distribution deal and hired on its first assistant brewer.
Area breweries were rebounding from the pandemic well before the state lifted all COVID-19 restrictions. Now most breweries are not only on sure enough footing to hire their employees back, but also need to add more staff to prepare for the large crowds expected this summer.