An unprecedented election season is in full swing in the Commonwealth. With all 140 seats up for grabs, the political landscape made for a busy summer at VBWA.

Since July, our members have hosted warehouse tours statewide for over 30 candidates for the House and Senate. We’ve held over 50 fundraisers for incumbents and political hopefuls, both at our Richmond headquarters and in candidates’ districts.

Warehouse tours are a time to educate lawmakers about the role distributors play in getting products to market and the broader Three-Tier System. Even still, I’m under no illusion that legislators, whether incumbent or aspiring, are fully versed in the intricacies of our industry, so our goal is to ensure we become a trusted resource of information for them on any issue related to alcoholic beverages.

We’ve met most of the potential new faces, and I feel good about our position as we head towards elections in the General Assembly, where the GOP holds a 52-48 seat majority in the House of Delegates and Democrats hold a 22-18 majority in the Senate.

Though state politics takes up a lot of air these days, VBWA is active on other fronts, too.

• ABC has filled the three open positions in its Compliance Unit, which now has five agents total, up from two. This statewide team is back in action working with wholesalers, manufacturers, importers, and out-of-state shippers. Expect a new presence in your region after a many-years absence, and our members should anticipate at least one ABC visit each year. Enforcement is critical to the Authority’s ability to carry out its core mission — and ours.
• In the recent state budget session, the Virginia Beer Distribution Co. (VBDC) received funding. The VBDC is a division of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and gives small craft breweries the ability to distribute limited amounts of product through the state to retailers and restaurants. The VBDC limits breweries to 500 barrels a year. The VBWA will be working closely with the Administration and other stakeholders as the VBDC prepares to start operations in fall 2024.
• Overtime changes? The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule to overhaul federal overtime regulations and expand the type of worker who can earn additional pay. The rule would apply to salaried, full-time workers in executive, administrative, and professional roles who make less than $55,068 a year. How and whether that impacts our industry is something we are tracking with our colleagues at the National Beer Wholesalers Association..
• We’ve got eyes on Amazon, which internally has been moving to change three-tier laws nationwide by eliminating state licensing caps, fully legalizing alcohol delivery, and competing directly with liquor stores and wholesalers.
• VBWA and our ABC counsel wrote comments in the spring to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB). The Biden administration is assessing market competitiveness and distribution structure for alcoholic beverages to identify and eliminate trade practices and regulations that hinder competition or entry into the market. Our comments align with our state peers and the national association; a copy was emailed to VBWA members at the beginning of July. View them here.

Finally, on a career-related note, I will be elected first-vice president of the Wholesale Beer Executive Association (WBAE) this fall while in Las Vegas for the NBWA Convention and Trade Show, which will put me on track to lead the group the following year. I would not be in this position were it not for the leaders of Virginia’s beer distributors who have entrusted me and my team to lead this organization.

Thanks to you, Virginia boasts one of the most active wholesaler association memberships and sets standards for our industry and consumer choice that other states follow. Let’s all keep working to continually improve, evolve, and lead the way.

Philip H. Boykin
President & CEO
Virginia Beer Wholesalers Association