The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Elkins High School graduate Samantha Fox puts in some time at the Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company where she is working on an apprenticeship with Bridge Valley Community College.

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
Elkins High School graduate Samantha Fox puts in some time at the Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company where she is working on an apprenticeship with Bridge Valley Community College.

MAXWELTON — With two undergraduate college degrees and a masters already in her possession, one might think Elkins native Samantha Fox’s career path was already set.

But when COVID-19 hit last year and Fox was forced to work from home, she found herself in somewhat of a rut. So instead of letting her woes get the best of her, the 2006 Elkins High School graduate started looking for other things to do in order to dig herself out.

“I had been working for about five years and when the virus hit and we had to work from home, I started thinking about what I could do with my different hobbies and such,” Fox told The Inter-Mountain this week. “I needed to pull myself out of a rut, so I started talking to someone at the Department of Labor about their apprenticeship classes.”

Fox said the DOL pointed her in the direction of Bridge Valley Community College and its Technical College’s beer brewing apprenticeship program. Soon after her initial call to the DOL she was off and running, taking classes at the school. And now that spring has arrived she is working full time at Green Valley Brewing Company as a beer brewing apprentice.

“It’s a lot of fun working there and like they say, if you love what you do you never work a day in your life,” Fox said. “And that’s where I’m at right now at the brewery, I’m enjoying it a lot.”

Fox said her daily routine changes from day-to-day at the brewery, depending on what needs to be done and what’s atop the to-do list.

“It’s never quite the same thing every single day and sometimes your plans change,” she said. “One day I may go in thinking I’m going to brew, but a big order might come in and I have to help out in the packaging line. But a typical brew day usually takes all day and we usually do multiple churns, so we brew a couple different batches each day. And some days I’m cleaning tanks or fermenters to get them ready to put more beer into them. It’s always an adventure.”

Nearly half of the employees working at Greenbrier Valley Brewing Company are women, which makes it a little extra special for Fox, especially with March being Women’s History Month.

“Our tap room manager is a female and we also have a female canning line manager,” she said. “And we also have two women that work in our packaging department and another in advertising and sales.”

Fox is also working on starting the first-ever West Virginia chapter of the Pink Boots Society, which is an organization that helps women who work in the brewing industry.

“The Pink Boots help women in the brewing industry with education in order to get certain certifications and things that they need,” Fox said. “There’s all types of professional development that the group helps with, as well. I think it’s going to be a really great thing to have here in West Virginia because the closest chapter is in Roanoke, Virginia.”

The craft beer industry is the second-fastest growing manufacturing industry in West Virginia. In 2019 the industry contributed a collective $289 million to the state’s economy, according to the American Brewers Association.

But according to Fox, that could all fall to the wayside if House Bill 2027 is approved.

“In order to lessen the income tax, one of Gov. Jim Justice’s solutions is to raise the barrel tax on alcohol,” Fox said. “It’s hitting breweries specifically and he’s wanting to raise it from $9 to $29 per barrel, which is like a 400 percent increase. If it goes through, I don’t think myself or anyone else will be able to have a career in this field.”

Bridge Valley Community College is a multi-campus college in the Charleston area and is the only school in the state that offers a two-year Brew Tech associate degree program, which Fox will earn after completing 2,000 hours of apprenticeship.

All three of Fox’s degrees are from Marshall University. Her undergrad degrees are in psychology and criminal justice, while her masters is in counseling. After graduating she was an academic advisor at the school for seven years.

“I think there are opportunities to use the skills that I have,” said Fox. “Counseling taught me how to communicate with people and how to be a good manager. And I think those are skills that I can still use within the brewery.”

Fox’s parents still reside in Elkins. Her mother Ginger Fox is currently employed at Citizens National Bank, while her father Eric Fox used to own a music store in town, she said.