2023 September/October Issue
What’s the Status of Coastal Virginia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem?
The dialog was flowing at this summer’s HR Chamber-Strome Business Series panel discussion, “Developing an...
A Personal Touch in a Digital Age
Small Business Spotlight | Jacobson Fine Papers & Gifts In an era of email and...
She’s Got the Power: Selma Spratley
One summer while a student at Hampton University, Selma Spratley got a part-time job that...
Perspectives on Coastal Virginia’s Small Business Scene
From your favorite ice cream shop to your local auto shop, small businesses provide the...
Progress & Preservation: Wetlands Studies and Solutions, Inc
Small Business Spotlight | Wetlands Studies and Solutions, Inc. What may appear to the untrained...
Billy Foster: Finding Comfort in Community Banking
GUEST COLUMN By Billy Foster As a community bank, we’re well aware of the conversations...
Taking on the Affordable Housing Crisis
Across the country, in places both urban and rural, principals, teachers, even school bus drivers...
Brick and Mortar Isn’t Dead, Not by a Long Shot
In short, retail is about to get a lot less bifurcated. Some of the most...
Biophilic Design Blurring Boundaries
If the terms “biophilia” and “biophilic design” are new to you, you are not alone....
2023 NextGen Awards Honorees
Compiled by Beth Hester | Photography by David Uhrin Each year, CoVaBIZ asks our business...
2023 NextGen Awards and CoVaBIZ Magazine Relaunch Event
On the evening of September 6, 2023, CoVaBIZ staff and guests gathered at The Harbor...
Regional Green Hydrogen Hub Update
On Friday, October 13, President Joe Biden and Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy...
Small Business: East Coast Repair & Fabrication
East Coast Repair and Fabrication, better known as ECR, started out as a one-man ship...
Small Business: Bold Mariner Brewing
It was 2011 and Norfolk-based Navy SEAL, Michael Stacks, owner of Bold Mariner Brewing, was...
A Good Year for Tourism and Hospitality in Coastal Virginia
Since 1999, the Dragas Center for Economic Analysis and Policy at Old Dominion University has...
Something Ventured
Raising capital for a small business is challenging. Add social and economic barriers to the...
2023 Real Estate Forecast
In the past four years there have been unique developments in every industry, and the...
Old Dominion University Prepares Students for Maritime Careers
Each day, lines of 18-wheelers, 100-car freight trains and construction vehicles snake through the region’s...
The Challenge of Accessing Capital
What is the biggest challenge faced by small business owners?” It’s a question I often...
Navigating the 4th Industrial Revolution, Part 1
AI is changing the way we live, work and interact with one another. Disruptive technologies...
Community Service, Lava Lamps and Petula Clark
Optometrist Diane Wallach, is owner of Selden Optometry in downtown Norfolk, a comprehensive optometric practice....
On Being a Brand Architect
Building a brand involves more than creating an eye-catching logo or producing a memorable slogan....
NextGen Awards and CoVaBIZ Magazine Relaunch Event
Photos by David Uhrin On the evening of September 6, 2023, CoVaBIZ staff and guests...
In the Arena With ITA International
ITA International is a family business, but not your typical Mom and Pop. Since its...
The Civic 50 Hampton Roads 2023 Honorees
In 2023, Coastal Virginia Magazine and CoVaBIZ partnered with VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads for the inaugural...
What’s Ahead for Commercial Real Estate in Coastal Virginia?
Uncertainty surrounds the commercial real estate (CRE) industry heading into 2024. Geopolitical tensions, volatile capital...
It was 2011 and Norfolk-based Navy SEAL, Michael Stacks, owner of Bold Mariner Brewing, was facing a landmark decision: What to do when he retired?
“I’d served for 24 years and loved it so much I couldn’t imagine doing anything else,” says Stacks, 47. “Then, it was like I blinked and suddenly had to figure out what’s next.”
He got a hard nudge when Virginia passed laws letting breweries open tasting rooms. Stacks loved craft beer and, before joining the Navy, had considered a career in brewing. As breweries popped up across the state, the dream reemerged.
“My dad was big into homebrewing, so I’d grown up around it and helped out a lot,” says Stacks, who was raised in Michigan. As a first-year college student, he won props salvaging his friends’ dorm-brewing setup. “They were making every mistake in the book. I kind of stepped in and took over, and everyone seemed excited about the results.”
The success led him to consider pursuing brewing at U.C. Davis. But Stacks was conflicted. The American craft beer renaissance was in its infancy and opportunities were scarce. Plus, he’d fixed on the idea of becoming a Navy SEAL.
“I came from a military family and my grandfather liked to joke that we’d had everything but a ‘frogman,’” says Stacks. He didn’t catch the SEAL reference until he watched a TV special about them in college. “I got obsessed. I thought, ‘Try it now, while you can. You can go back to brewing later.’”
And in 2012, that’s exactly what he did. But Stacks didn’t go in blind.
“I saw it as my next big challenge,” he says. “I loved craft beer, but knew almost nothing about the brewing business.”
Stacks threw himself into research and preparation. He spent hours reading and watching how-to videos online. He took classes at Old Dominion University to study systems design and business. He also befriended and volunteered with brewmasters at watering holes like O’Conner Brewing Co. and Young Veterans Brewing Company. The latter proved invaluable.
“I’m so grateful to those guys for that opportunity,” says Stacks. The experience was particularly useful due to their differing approaches: One had a large system and focused on Old World staples; the other was much smaller and pursued a specialty menu. “That helped me refine my thoughts about what I wanted to do. … Ultimately, I took a middle path, hoping to offer the best of both worlds.”
Bold Mariner opened in Norfolk’s Lambert’s Point in November 2013. The name celebrated Stacks’ naval career and brewing ambitions, as well as the city’s nautical history. It also hinted at a foundational mission.
“From the beginning, I wanted to find a way to give back to the community,” says Stacks. Considering his background and the region’s military presence, supporting organizations that help veterans transition to civilian life “seemed like a pretty good place to start.”
Bold Mariner quickly developed ongoing partnerships with the Navy Seal Foundation and The Honor Foundation, and donates a percentage of sales to each. Stacks’ commitment to community expanded in 2019 after relocating to a bigger building in Ocean View—one replete with a 100-person event room, ice creamery and barbecue-focused restaurant.
“We were in this awesome location one block from the beach, but the beaches were littered with trash,” he says. “So, we organized a monthly meetup at the brewery where we collect garbage along two miles of beach, toss it in our dumpster, then share some discounted beers.”
With Bold Mariner about to turn 10, Stacks credits its ongoing success to the fact that, for him and his employees, it’s more than business.
“When I retired from service, I wanted to find something to do that I could feel just as passionate about,” says Stacks, who’s married and has four elementary-aged children. Bold Mariner is a place “where people come to share food and drink, relax, and have a great time. And I think we make that easy because we love what we’re doing and we’re sincere about it. People feel that and I think it’s what keeps them coming back.”
