Decade-long industry veteran aims to tackle industry challenges and champion independent craft breweries

The Brewers Association, Boulder, Colo., announced the appointment of Bart Watson to president and CEO of the trade association. As the current vice president of strategy and membership and the former chief economist of the Brewers Association, Watson is a well-known and respected voice in the industry, the association notes.

The Brewers Association Board of Directors confirmed Watson’s selection at its Dec. 12 board meeting in Atlanta after conducting a national recruitment process through executive search agency Kittleman & Associates. His start date as president and CEO will be Jan. 6, 2025. Watson will succeed Bob Pease, who will retire from the organization on Jan. 3.

In his new position leading the Brewers Association, Watson will address legislative and regulatory issues impacting independent craft breweries and producers, champion their voice in the media and across industries, oversee the development of events and resources to benefit member businesses and support the board’s ongoing development as a strategic governing body.

Before joining the Brewers Association in 2013, Watson was a visiting assistant professor at the University of Iowa Department of Political Science, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Berkeley Roundtable on the international economy, and a University of California Berkeley School of Public Health lecturer. He is a graduate of Stanford University and holds master’s and PhD degrees in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.