Bob McCafferty and his wife, Jodi, are the owners of North Country Brewing, a beanery, eatery, brewery, and community center, located in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. The location, which originally operated as an inn in the early 1800s and then evolved into a cabinet-making and eventually coffin-making business, was known as Uber and Sons Undertakers and Furniture Dealers for years before exclusively becoming a furniture store. In 1998, the McCaffertys bought and renovated the storefront into today’s modern brewpub. Bob McCafferty recently spoke to the Business Magazine about North Country Brewing and the challenges he faces as a small-business owner, including ObamaCare.
Please tell our readers why you and Jodi decided to go into business for yourselves.
Working in restaurants always paid for food, rent, and two-thirds of college for me. After graduating, I had been traveling, doing archaeology, and Jodi continued to manage restaurants. We wanted to grow a root in a community and open a place that we would love to find and hang out in. We saw the potential in this falling down building in Slippery Rock and decided to throw everything to the wind and dive in.
What do you believe sets North Country Brewing apart from other breweries/restaurants?
Our sustainable lifestyle and beliefs attract like-minded customers who give the pub a heartbeat. The wood that finished the interior was collected from various archaeological sites. If the state was going to burn them, I asked permission to harvest them out and had them milled locally in North Liberty. The cobble chimney in the stonework of the back patio was from the new footers we had to dig. The slate bar top, the past sidewalk of the funeral home. The entire building was redone and reused for our opening. We also strive toward zero waste and we purchase locally within seasons as often and as much as we can.
What do you enjoy most about what you do?
The dynamics that can make up a day — from outside time on the farm with the dogs and the hustle and bustle of finding a rhythm, to sharing some stories over a pint in the evening.
Read more in the December 2013 Business Magazine
