Lacy Bray’s Ozark Beer Co: A Family Affair in Rogers

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Lacy Bray, one of the owners of Ozark Beer Company in Roger, Arkansas.
Lacy Bray, one of the owners of Ozark Beer in Rogers, Arkansas.

We met Lacy Bray at the Ozark Beer Company in downtown Rogers, and as she brought us the sampler flights of their beers, I asked her the question that’s been rattling around all of us journalists’ heads this week.

What is it like to move to a state where even in Benton County, it’s overwhelmingly Trump country? I told a friend I don’t think I would be able to stomach running into red MAGA hats and flags…and to have to listen to their silliness at the supermarket.

But Lacy told me that she rarely encounters politics at her workplace, the spacious beerhall in downtown Rogers. People avoid bringing up their views, she said, and overwhelmingly, the many other benefits of living in Northwest Arkansas make it all worth it.  “It’s like a ski town, without the mountain,” is how she describes the small town feel of friendly Rogers. “I love living here.

“In our neighborhood, there are 13 little kids,  around my children’s age. I like to give them money to go to town and get a snack.”  She feels like this is the best place she’s ever lived, and she filled me in on some of the ways Ozark Beer Co. creates a community in their taproom.

At Christmas, Lacy invites their UPS man to come play Santa Claus with the local children right at the brewery. It’s a way to keep the place feeling like it’s a family place, right down to the toys they keep under a stairwell in case the little ones get bored.

Beer it Forward: Pay for someone's beer at Ozark Brewing Co. in Rogers.
Beer it Forward: Pay for someone’s beer at Ozark Brewing Co. in Rogers.

Then I looked up at a wall with dozens of little cards with dollar amounts on them. A woman reached up and took one and used it to pay for her beer. You can do that.

People buy the cards, ‘pay it forward,’ and someone else benefits. Some of the cards are for firefighters or other first responders, and in these cases, they can only be used by those folks. A pretty neat idea that I admired.

Our time here in Rogers has been very enjoyable, especially meeting so many young people like Lacy who have either stayed here in NW Arkansas or moved back after college.  One statistic that impressed me…38 people move to this part of the country every day.

Walmart made a change a few years ago that forced thousands of its employees to live here and work in a gigantic new campus it built. Because of the influx, they’re building a cricket pitch in Rogers for the Indian workers who love the sport.

Again and again the locals extol the generosity and benefits of their big three: Walmart, JB Hunt Trucking, and Tyson Foods.  These behemoths have transformed northwest Arkansas into a place where people really want to live.

Flights of beer at Ozark Beer.
Flights of beer at Ozark Beer.

As I told someone here, in my Massachusetts county, we haven’t had any population increase since 1985; we’re not growing this way. So it was refreshing to see so many cranes, new apartments, and large-scale downtown parks, such as in Rogers. They added a few pennies to the sales tax in several elections and managed to pay for vast public spaces such as walking paths, parks, and playgrounds.  It’s inspiring!

During our visit, we also got a chance to take in a concert at the Walmart AMP, or Arkansas Music Pavilion, where Charley Crockett and Leon Bridges entranced the large crowd, most of whom were wearing cowboy boots.  A beautiful 12,000-seat venue that has great sight lines and sound.