Hardywood taps new president, CFO and brewmaster

Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, the state’s largest craft beer brewer, announced Thursday it has promoted Kate Lee as president. She previously served as vice president of operations and quality, and joined the Richmond-based brewery in 2014.

Also promoted: Brian Nelson, vice president of production and head brewer, is now Hardywood’s brewmaster, and Doug Sulanke, formerly vice president of finance, is now chief finance officer. The brewery’s co-founders, Eric McKay and Patrick Murtaugh, will serve as CEO and chief operating officer, respectively.

Hardywood opened its Richmond location in 2011 at the start of a groundswell of Virginia craft beer breweries, which now number more than 200, according to the Virginia Tourism Corp. The brewery also has a second location in Goochland County’s West Creek business park.

Lee, who joined Hardywood in 2014 after working for 12 years at Anheuser-Busch InBev, is a North Carolina State alum and received her MBA from Virginia Commonwealth University last year.

“Kate has excelled at the highest levels within the brewing industry. She possesses an unrivaled depth of knowledge in the science of making world-class beer, and through her dynamic leadership skills, she’s propelled Hardywood’s evolution into one of the largest independent breweries on the East Coast,” McKay said in a statement.

Sulanke joined Hardywood in 2018 and is a certified public accountant with an MBA from the University of Richmond. Hired in 2011 as Hardywood’s first employee, Nelson is a graduate of Virginia Tech and previously worked as an engineer for Honda.