Walking into Millrose Brewing Co. in Barrington, Illinois, 21-year-old Jim Holton immediately noticed the large copper cladded kettles sitting in the middle of a room, flanked by field-stone fireplaces.

Taken by their beauty, Holton and his friends ordered a flight of beer to sample the flavors the brewery offered. When the server presented the flight, Holton remembered admiring the range of color from amber to stout.

An idea passed through Holton's mind: "I should open my own brewery in Mount Pleasant."

Holton said he was already making his own beer in his apartment on Fancher Street, after he had learned the art of brewing from a VHS instructional tape.

CMU alumnus and former mayor, Holton has made himself a prominent community member by providing jobs and leading the Michigan craft brewing industry.

In 1995, Holton graduated from Central Michigan University with a business degree. The Pinckney native thought of heading downstate to work, but after spending a summer in Mount Pleasant, he said the town had grown on him.

He was networking with business owners in town and the idea of opening a brewery was brought to the forefront of his mind.

One thing led to another, and on Oct. 9, 1996 Mountain Town Station opened its doors, serving food and craft beer with a brewpub license.

“We might have been just a touch ahead of our time,” Holton said.

Holton said he believes the key to his success was focusing on food first and beer second.

Beer is a staple, as well as a passion, of Holton’s establishments. Over the years the competitive brewing market and the unpredictability of the hospitality industry has forced him to keep innovating.

The early days

Holton never worked in a restaurant before opening Mountain Town — the business provided an exponential learning curve for him. For the first few years, it was a daily struggle to keep the doors open.

“This business is all about numbers,” he said. “When you look at it, it’s not in the dollars that you save or earn, it is pennies. And it comes down to pennies in this type of business.”

Holton and his team would assemble in the “war room” – an office in the basement of the restaurant – and discuss how they could improve upon the last day, asking questions such as “How do we survive?” and “How do we make the restaurant better?”

Every detail of the restaurant, from uniforms to the overhead lighting in the dining room, was analyzed for potential improvements.

“Every day I would look at something different coming in here,” he said. “I still do that, but not as intense as I did back then. We’re a little more stable now.”

Holton has since opened several other businesses, including the expansion of his brewing operations with microbrewery Mountain Town Brewing Co., Alma Brewing Co., and Camille’s on the River, a restaurant located inside Mountain Town Station.

Craft brewing in a saturated market

The craft brewing industry in Michigan has expanded to the point of saturation, forcing Holton to keep revamping his operation.

“It’s a tougher business now,” he said. “The microbrew business is very, very difficult right now -- like any business -- but we’re adapting to it."

Michigan now has over 200 craft breweries, giving consumers an abundance of options compared to two decades ago.

“What are you going to buy and how do you buy it? Is it the prettiness of the label? Is it the one that’s on sale?” Holton said, putting himself in the consumers mind.

The competitiveness of the market has only led to higher standards and top-quality products for consumers.

“You have to be great, because if you’re not good, you’re out the door – you’re done,” he said.

Holton recalled how much easier it was to sell his beer years ago. However, his beer now sells in markets outside of Michigan, such as northern Indiana and northern Ohio

To keep his business on top, Holton has recently paid special attention to the online presence of his businesses, hiring a website evaluation company out of Denver, Colorado.

From the evaluation, he learned he needs a quicker load time on his website and he would benefit from adding a frequently asked questions tab.

Contributing to the community

A townie for almost 30 years, Holton is in the midst of leaving his mark on the community of Mount Pleasant.

“I wouldn’t be the person I am if it wasn’t for the people I met in this community,” he said. “Yes, I could just go to work and go home every single day, but I think that would be totally unfulfilling.”

Being involved took him down the path of joining the Mount Pleasant City governemnt, despite his golden rule that business owners shouldn’t publicly participate in politics.

In 2001 he was appointed to the Mount Pleasant Planning Commission, moving his way to city commission and eventually becoming Mayor for three years; in 2009, 2010 and 2015.

Working for public office, Holton strived to strengthen ties between the city and the university to make the community better.

“No matter where you go in life get involved in your community,” he said. “It’s fulfilling not only for yourself, but it’s also for the community. And it makes you a better person.”

Holton had fun working for the city but is happy to be a “citizen” once again, however he still stays as involved as possible.

“His end goal at the end of the day is to make the community better,” Mount Pleasant Mayor Allison Quast-Lents said about Holton. “Whether that’s opening a restaurant or brewery, providing jobs for tons and tons of people, or giving back to the community.”

Holton is also a former chairman of the Michigan Restaurant Association and continues to participate in MRA conferences even though it is not required of him.

President and CEO of MRA Justin Winslow has worked with Holton over the years, turning their business relationship into what he now considers to be a friendship.

He said Holton had valuable first-hand experience working in the industry that helped them make important decisions.

“He’s dedicated to this industry and wants the voice of what we do here to be heard by those who make decision in (Washington) D.C.,” Winslow said. “He’s important in those meetings and speaks up in those meetings.”

Holton is respected at the local level by even his top competitor John Hunter, who owns Hunter’s Ale House, the Cabin, O’Kelly’s Sports bar & Grill and Wayside Central.

“I’ve looked up to him as a mentor for years and he runs top notch operations,” Hunter said. “He’s a good person as well. He employs a lot of people in the area and gives a lot of opportunity.”

Holton and his wife, Karen, employ about 125 people with their various businesses, and Holton keeps that fact in mind when he makes business decisions.

Every day is a new challenge, but to Holton that’s the appeal of working in the hospitality and brewing industries.

“You might see more expansion of this business,” he said about Mountain Town Brewing in the future. “Whether it’s another concept in town, or something like that. You never know what could happen.”

Mountain Town owner adapts to saturated market

CMU alumnus Jim Holton operates one of the first craft breweries in the state

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