People
Joe Short
CEO/Creative EngineerJoe 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.
Leah Short
Owner and VisionaryLeah is from out west. After years of working and playing hard in the mountains, she graduated from college and was prepared for a career path outside of the hospitality industry. But first, she decided to spend one last summer in northern Michigan. As her lifelong friend, Joe Short, had recently opened a microbrewery in Bellaire, Leah hit him up for a summer job. The rest is history. Well, almost. It is worth noting that during a whirlwind trip out east to visit Dogfish Head and see several Ween concerts, Joe convinced Leah to stay in northern Michigan. Upon her return to the pub, Leah created our delicious Ween-inspired food menu. Through countless hours working in the deli, Leah also established the high standards of our gourmet deli operation. Although Leah still misses the rugged, mountainous terrain of the west, she has also learned to love the beautiful lakes and woods of northern Michigan. Leah takes great pride in the excellent food, beverages and service that our pub continues to offer its patrons.
Scott Newman-Bale
Partner/Business DevelopmentScott 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 Treasurer of the Michigan Brewers Guild and has travelled 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 wife, Judy, and two daughters.
Tony Hansen
Head BrewerTony 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.
Matt Drake
COOMatt is a lawyer with a background in creative writing who began making regular trips to Short’s pub after drinking a Huma Lupa Licious on tap. After falling in love with Short’s, Matt began volunteering his time in any capacity possible to help with the mission. When Leah introduced Matt to Joe, a lifelong friendship and working relationship was forged. Matt works closely with several departments at Short’s, including marketing, human resources, and legal. Matt also plays a big role in the overall company direction. Nicknamed “the Dr.” because he’s responsible for fixing anything that goes wrong and keeping everybody happy and healthy. Matt is involved in our local community as the President of Paddle Antrim and as a board member of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. Living in Elk Rapids, Matt enjoys cycling all seasons of the year, kayaking through the Chain of Lakes, and spending time with his wife Dana, and their two children, Liam and Nora.
Tyler Glaze
Quality ManagerTyler studied at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as a Microbiology/Biochemistry Undergraduate student and escaped before graduation to explore the United States and try all of its beer. By sheer luck, Tyler landed in a seat at the Bellaire Pub and was hired shortly after for a summer internship. Soon, he found himself managing the Quality Department at Short’s and, while working at Short’s, attended the prestigious University of California, Davis Extension, Master Brewer’s Program where he learned the science and engineering behind the beer we all love. Shortly after, Tyler received his Diploma in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling, London, U.K. Tyler lives in Traverse City with a large fridge full of Huma Lupa Licious.
Pub
Erin Kuethe
General ManagerErin is originally from Battle Creek, Michigan. She moved to Lansing during her college years, spending two years at Lansing Community College before finishing her degree at Michigan State University. Erin was bit by the traveling bug when she landed her first post-college job in the British Virgin Islands. Since then she’s been all over the world, including South Africa, The Bahamas, Spain, Costa Rica, Germany, France, Peru, and India. Erin joined the Short’s Brewing Company family in 2012 working as a pubtender, and worked her way up through the ranks to become our Pub General Manager in 2015. When she’s not running our Pub like a well-oiled machine, you can find Erin (probably with her dog, Bruce Wayne) in the great Northern Michigan outdoors, enjoying disc golfing, hiking, running, biking, and water sports. Her favorite part about working for Short’s? “The people who work here are like family. The growth continuously challenges and excites me, and the company embodies all of the things I love about playing outside.”
