Surly Gives a Damn ending with layoffs + letter from Omar

Surly Gives a Damn, Surly’s charitable community endeavor, is ending with the layoff of their long-time organizer Mary. Such a shame. I enjoyed volunteering for these events in the past on occasion when my schedule allowed (and I was keeping up on opportunities to sign up for).

Here is the letter from Omar Ansari, which explains the move and the dire state of business for breweries, including a large operation like Surly:

Good Morning SGAD Volunteers,

As your fearless leader and point of contact for all these years, Mary wanted to be the one to tell you about her lay off and the winding down of SGAD's activities. As Surly’s founder and owner, however, I do not want this news to arrive without an explanation from me about how we got here. Please know, this has been a deeply difficult decision for me and my family, especially in this time of such great need in our community.

The reality of the beer (and all alcohol) world is that most breweries are facing an extremely challenging economic environment. There are a lot of reasons why, but the reality is that less beer is being consumed, and sales have steadily declined nationwide since COVID. Surly was buoyed by the burgeoning world of THC beverages, with Minnesota leading the country in the production of these beverages. In fact, many local breweries have depended on them to offset our declining beer sales. But the federal hemp ban legislation has now blown a hole in that business, and the industry faces an existential crisis if the law does not get reversed before the ban goes into effect in November of 2026.

This was the landscape we were facing before the devastating impact of ICE’s deployment in the Twin Cities. The hospitality sector has been utterly rocked. As Twin Cities Business Magazine said, the restaurant and bar industry in our city is facing an “extinction event” after the events of January and February. I implore folks to grab a friend, hit your favorite bar, restaurant, and taproom in the city and spend some time together. Do it often. Every place in town needs your help. Ourselves included.

So, I write this email to let you know that I have tried to keep everything together. I have tried to not make cuts in the face of years of declining sales. But Mary’s position was one of many that I had to eliminate to keep the company moving forward. There is no other way to say it: It sucks. It really and truly sucks. I wish there was some other way.

I want to thank Mary as a friend, coworker and all-around rock star. I want to thank all of you amazing volunteers for the great work you’ve done for the Twin Cities and beyond. I have always said that Mary and SGAD represent the best of Surly. Giving back to the community is engrained in our culture, so we are determined to continue to show up. Moving forward, it will look different, maybe a bit more like the early years with more grass roots initiatives and a bit more scrappy. My focus right now is at work, but I intend to find a solution to keep the community garden growing. We have a few team members who have come forward willing to lead internal initiatives on their own, the biggest one being our blood drives. While we may not be doing the organizing, you all know that the organizations you have supported over the last 10 years still need your help, now more than ever. Don’t stop giving back, thank you again for your volunteering and I hope to see you soon.

Omar Ansari

Surly Brewing

President & Founder