Our People

Joe Short
Founder
Joe grew up in Rapid City and graduated from Kalkaska High School.  He began working in the hospitality industry at a young age as a waiter at the Dockside on Torch Lake.  Joe began homebrewing while attending Western Michigan University.  After beginning his professional brewing career with stints at the former Traverse Brewing Company in Elk Rapids, the former Michigan Brewing Company in Webberville and the former Jackson Brewing Company (later Zig’s Kettle and Brew), Joe decided to return to northern Michigan and start his own brewery. Since then, Joe has worked every position at Short’s.  Don’t be surprised if you stop by our pub and find him pouring beers and taking orders.  Behind the scenes, however, Joe spearheads the creative process, any construction or expansion projects, marketing, special events and overall direction of the company.   Joe is married to Leah Short, and they have two sons.
Scott
CEO
Scott moved to the U.S. from England in 1999 after a successful career as a Database designer for EA Sports. While attending college at Michigan State University, Joe and Scott met through a mutual friend. Scott’s background in business and real estate has been a tremendous asset to Short’s, earning him the nickname “The Magician.” While Joe’s focus was directed towards “the next big thing to excite craft beer fans in Michigan,” Scott was the guy who found a way to fund such projects and make them financially viable. In this way, Scott came on board at Short’s as a silent partner. By 2007, Short’s had grown to a point where it required Scott’s attention full time. In addition to his work at Short’s, Scott has also become a major advocate for craft brewers throughout the nation. He currently serves as President of the Michigan Brewers Guild, Member of the Brewers Association Government Affairs Committee, and has traveled throughout the U.S. advocating for craft breweries and brewers. When he isn’t working, Scott enjoys calling soccer “football” and tons of other English things like that. Scott resides in Traverse City, Michigan with his two daughters.
Tony
Chief Innovation Officer
Tony met Joe Short while attending a homebrew club meeting at the pub in late 2006. At that time, Tony was cooking at Boone’s Long Lake Inn while experimenting with homebrewing, biofuel production and organic farming.   Joe expressed an inspiring vision of what brewing could be and the need for help in the brewery. During one of the homebrew club meetings, Joe offered Tony a part-time job as a pub brewer. In 2007, as Short’s started to experience rapid growth, Joe began focusing on expansion and Tony’s role quickly transformed into a lead brewer position at the pub in Bellaire. In 2009, when the expansion was complete, Tony moved over to the production facility.  Tony manages production operations in Elk Rapids and oversees pub production along with R&D brewing.  Today, Tony designs the beer, the branding and the names for many of our beers.
Tyler
COO
Tyler, a native-Californian, joined the Quality Team as an intern in 2011. After getting the Short’s quality lab beefed up and completing the UC Davis Master Brewers Program, Tyler became a partner and Director of Quality at Short’s in 2014. Since then, he’s been helping many departments as efficiently as possible, officially becoming Short’s Chief Operating Officer in 2019. Tyler earned his degrees from Northwestern Michigan College and Northern Michigan University. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Artificial Intelligence. Tyler resides in Traverse City with his lovely wife, son, and dog, and a fridge full of the current Pure Michigan seasonal beer offering from Short’s.
Rachel
Chief Financial Officer
Originally from Rogers City in Northeast Michigan, Rachel earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Central Michigan University.  After graduation, Rachel worked for eight years in public accounting in Traverse City and became a Certified Public Accountant. Looking for a change, she found herself at the Short’s family doorstep. Having always been a Northern Michigan native and loving all things outdoors, she naturally fell in love with Short’s “get outside and play” mindset. If you can’t find her on the trails, a lake, or exploring our National Parks, Rachel’s chasing after her eleven nieces and nephews.

Pub Managers

Brian
Pub Manager
Drake Manwaring
Pub Manager
Ian
Pub Manager
Lindsay
Pub Manager

Pull Barn

Rachel
General Manager
Originally from Grand Rapids, Rachel moved to Bellaire in 2013 to join the Pub team. She moved into the Liberation department as the Northern Michigan Sales Representative a few months later. In the position, she shared her love for Short’s Brewing with customers throughout Northern Lower and Upper Michigan. In early 2020, she opened up Short’s beer distribution in Colorado, where she lived for two years selling Short’s Brewing and Starcut Ciders around the Rockies and Denver. Now you can find her managing the Pull Barn in Elk Rapids. When not slinging brews, Rachel can be found with her partner, Marty, and their good boys (Griz and Max) hiking Leelanau County, biking Glacial Hills, paddling through the chain of lakes, and on the slopes in the winter.
Ziggy
Manager
Zac grew up in Clio Michigan just outside of Flint.  Zac has worked in the craft brewing industry for 15 years, 7 of those years have been at Short’s. For the last few years, he has been managing the pull barn.  When not at work Zac likes to go sailing, swimming, and hiking.

BEER LIBERATION

Kerry
Sales Director & Copywriter
Kerry is a Michigan native and a bit of a nomad, with ties to just about every corner of the US in one way or another. After many years of being a Short’s Brewing superfan, she joined our team in 2016 as the first Liberator to introduce our beer to the good humans outside of Michigan, including Ohio, Indiana, and Florida. Spreading the magic of Short’s into the universe is a real passion for Kerry, and getting to lead the charge of rad, quirky, hard-working people on our sales team is a true delight. In 2022, Kerry and her husband Patrick moved back to West Michigan from Indiana, getting as close to Lake Michigan as fiscally possible and bringing with them their dog, Gordon Bombay (Quack! Quack! Quack!), and two cats, Blanche (yes, she’s a Golden Girl) and George Michael (he’s got Careless Whiskers), along with a weird amount of house plants. If you’d like to have a beer with her, just grab a can of Melt My Brain — it’s Kerry’s screaming face you’re holding every time you enjoy the best shower beer in the Short’siverse.
Ben
West Michigan Liberator
Dylan
Northern Michigan Liberator
John
Indiana Market Manager
Suzanne
Chain Specialist
Tom
Market Manager
Woj
Chain Specialist

Marketing

Christa
Marketing and Brand Director
Christa loves northern Michigan, so much that she left a career in the ad biz working with some of Michigan’s biggest and best brands to lead our marketing and creative department. Originally from Mancelona, she moved to Grand Rapids for college and ended up sticking around. She cut her teeth in hospitality, working many years at San Chez Bistro and drinking many beers at HopCat with her now-husband, Jake. She’s got two awesome human kids and a few furry babies (pandemic kittens are a thing). She’s a cool mom who loves dancing and live shows, fashion and friends, hiking and travel. She hates cheese, it’s a long story. In her spare time you’ll find her scouring thrift shops for vintage treasures or on the beach.
Dave
Content Creator and Community Coordinator
Laura
Brand Designer

HUMAN RESOURCES

Elizabeth
HR Manager
Elizabeth is from Elk Rapids and loves all that northern Michigan has to offer (though winters could be a tad shorter). She enjoyed living in the UP while earning her associate’s degree from Northern Michigan University before earning her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a minor in Psychology from Olivet College. With 11 years of experience working in HR, Elizabeth was excited to join the Short’s team in 2019. When she’s not working on corralling the Short’s team, Elizabeth enjoys to run, ski, play sports, or camp with her husband Ryan and their 3 kids.

Administrative

Tim
Purchasing Manager
Born and raised in Traverse City, Tim is proud to call northern Michigan his home. In the early years of Short’s, Tim and his family traveled the scenic drive around Elk and Torch Lake to the pub to enjoy live music, great beer, and food. In 2013, Tim was finishing up his degree in Elementary Education when he got his first taste of Short’s life while volunteering at Short’s Fest. Little did he know that volunteering for many events would eventually lead him to head up Short’s Festival and Events department before moving into the purchasing role. Tim and his wife, Erin, have two adult sons. Nate is working on his Master’s degree and lives with his family in Grand Rapids. John and his girlfriend, both recent University of Michigan grads, live and work in Boston. Tim serves on the Boards of the Friends of Glacial Hills and the Northern Michigan Mountain Bike Association, he truly cares about the impact the many area trails have on the health and appeal of our communities. He and Erin spend much of their free time outdoors, biking (even in the winter on groomed fat bike trails that Tim helps maintain), hiking, camping, and paddleboarding.