More than 70 entrepreneurs from a variety of industries applied for the 2015 Tyree Award. You can believe in yourself and believe in your product, and if you market it correctly, people will respond to it.” “People resonate with authenticity, and you have to follow what your passions are. “I met a lot of great people and learned a lot about myself throughout this process,” said Byers. He is dedicated to sourcing local ingredients, inventing new craft brews, employing creative recycling efforts, and supporting a variety of local fundraising events and initiatives on the South Side of Chicago. Through Horse Thief Hollow, Byers has created more than 40 jobs since 2012 and plans to expand. “Not only is Horse Thief Hollow a popular, innovative restaurant and brewery, it has become a neighborhood anchor institution, creating jobs and investing in the community on the South Side of Chicago.” Mintle, President and CEO of the Chicagoland Chamber. “Having been born and raised in Beverly, Neil is a homegrown Chicago success story,” said Theresa E. The award includes a $25,000 cash prize from Mesirow Financial in addition to business consulting services from the Chicagoland Chamber. The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce announced at its 111th Annual Meeting today that Neil Byers, Owner of Horse Thief Hollow, is the winner of the 2015 James Tyree Emerging Business Leadership Award. Infrastructure & Digitalization Committee.in Woodstock.Ĭarol Flynn is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. in Evanston, Noon Whistle Brewing in Lombard, Roaring Table Brewing Co. The other winning breweries in Illinois were Sketchbook Brewing Co. It celebrated its 10th year of operation in February.īoth Pollyanna and Horse Thief Hollow have won other awards for their various beers, and distribute some of their products throughout the region through beverage stores and sites. Horse Thief Hollow took its name from the history of the area, when horse thieves hid out in the ravines of the Blue Island Ridge in the 1800s. Charles, and Pollyanna Social, a new cocktail lounge in Lemont. The company, started in 2014, includes the original brewery and taproom in Lemont, a second brewery/taproom in Roselle, a brewery, distillery, and taproom in St. The name “Pollyanna,” Pawola said, represents “irrepressible optimism, keeping the glass half full.” This is described as a traditional Bavarian lager named for the month of May, a transitional beer for springtime between the darker, heavier beers of winter, and the lighter beers of summer. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we’d have the best Pilsner in the world,” said Byers.Ī maibock style of beer won the award for the Pollyanna Brewing Company. “About six or seven years ago, I told the team I wanted to create a beer that was refreshing in the summer, satisfying in the winter, approachable to a non-craft beer drinker, and interesting to a craft beer drinker. That popularity makes it a bigger challenge to produce a version that is memorable to beer lovers. According to the dictionary of beers at, that style of beer is a light blond lager that originated in 1842 in the Bohemian town of Pilsen and went on to become the most popular and most copied beer style in the world. Horse Thief Hollow’s Little Wing, named for a Jimi Hendrix song, is their gateway beer, meeting the standards for an international style Pilsner.

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