Short’s Brewing had to “go deeper into our idea bank” to solve both a staffing and housing crisis before summer.
The company purchased the Bellaire Inn in April and had its first guest just two hours later. The 25-room motel is a solution to the staffing and housing shortage that’s growing more urgent in Northern Michigan.
“We were getting closer to the season and we were getting a lot of people telling us that they just couldn’t find anywhere to live and therefore couldn’t work,” CEO Scott Newman-Bale said. “Knowing that we wouldn’t be able to open without more employees, we had to go to plan — I don’t know what letter it was, but it was definitely not plan A.”
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Short’s employees were essentially bidding against each other as they searched for housing in Bellaire, Newman-Bale said. To avoid getting into a bidding war with them, the company had to look for something unique.
“We didn’t really want to be competing with our employees to buy houses for other employees,” Newman-Bale said. “We had to go deeper into our idea bank. Construction’s impossible. So we looked for existing structures and what better than a motel?”
Located at 728 E. Cayuga St. the motel is just down the street from Short’s Bellaire Pub. There are currently 20 rooms being used as employee housing. Seventeen are occupied by more than 30 Short’s employees.
Rooms come fully furnished, with bathrooms, a fridge, and a microwave. Most rooms have two beds so some employees are bunking together. All utilities are included as well for $600 a month, with a discount for Short’s employees.
The Bellaire Inn is still being run as a motel with rooms available by the night, too. Alongside employees are workers at other businesses, Gaylord tornado victims and nonprofits using the space.
When the motel purchase was announced, Short’s planned to open it up to other businesses struggling with employee housing. The demand was even higher than Newman-Bale anticipated.
With Short’s ever-expanding presence in Bellaire, the brewery now shoulders even more of that responsibility to keep the community growing.
“We have a significant portion of downtown, so we do well when the community does well,” he said. “We have to keep everything going. We have to keep everyone open. That’s why when we got the inn, we wanted to help other businesses as well.
Having a housing option has certainly been a recruitment tool for Short’s although Newman-Bale admits that some people are really looking for housing first and work second.
“Everyone who’s applied has made it clear that they need the housing option, and that is a condition of them being able to come and work for us,” he said. “I don’t think we would ever be able to get close to being fully staffed without it.”
Housing affordability has plagued Northern Michigan employers as their staff try to make it work any way possible. Previously, Short’s staffers were living at campsites, in trailers and out of their cars, Newman-Bale said. When campsites filled up or seasons changed, the brewery was losing staff mid-year.
Providing housing was a must for Drake Manwaring, a college intern living at the motel.
Manwaring, who is originally from Indiana and studying hospitality at Ferris State, wouldn’t have been able to take the production internship without the Bellaire Inn and the employee discount he receives on rent.
“That was pretty much a deal breaker for me,” he said. “If I did not have housing, I don’t know what I would do. Obviously, I don’t think I can afford to live up here without that option because they’re giving you a good deal for a living there.”
Short’s Brewing has acquired other buildings throughout Bellaire for business purposes and Newman-Bale hasn’t ruled out expanding the motel.
Ideally, the brewery wouldn’t get into the construction business, Newman-Bale said. But they might be pushed to do so.
“It’s not something we want to do,” he said. “Building housing is not in our wheelhouse. Although, we do have some experience in it. That said, we have to do what we have to do. We’ve got to keep the doors open. And if that involves getting into housing, then we’ll do it.”
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