United States Association Of Cider Makers Announces New Board Of Directors

Posted by Christina Herrick|February 12, 2014

The United States Association of Cider Makers (USACM), the national trade association of the hard cider industry, recently elected a new board of directors. After a year of astounding growth in the U.S. hard cider industry, approximately 200 member cider companies in USACM, met in Chicago as part of their annual cider conference.

The new board is made up of cider makers from across the country:

Mike Beck of Uncle John’s Cider Mill in Michigan
James Kohn of Wandering Aengus Ciderworks in Oregon
Dan Rowell of Vermont Hard Cider Company
Robert Vail of Angry Orchard in Ohio
Bruce Nissan of MillerCoors in Illinois
Dan Wilson of Slyboro Ciderworks in New York
Charlotte Shelton of Albemarle Ciderworks in Virginia
Brad Page of Colorado Cider Company
Scott Donovan of BlackBird Cider Works in New York

The USACM meeting kicked off the start of the annual Cider Conference, which provides networking and educational opportunities to cider makers in Chicago.

Throughout 2013, the organization worked to grow membership and advance legislative priorities. It led to the creation of the CIDER Act which is currently making its way through the U.S. House and Senate. The bill seeks to create a tax definition for cider that allows for increased carbonation and higher alcohol by volume over what current tax law allows.

The USACM is an organization of cider and perry producers in the U.S. It gathers and shares information about cider production, cider regulations, and cider apple growing, to help members improve their operations, raise awareness, and advance cider in the market. The organization was founded in February 2013 at “CiderCon,” the annual gathering of cider makers from across the U.S.