Local breweries have become cultural staples in communities across Illinois. Their presence and growth can help revitalize neighborhoods and downtowns by attracting new customers that then go on to support other small businesses. For downtown Springfield, this was our hope when we opened Buzz Bomb Brewing in 2018. Unfortunately, the pandemic has made that goal seem impossible as it has become difficult for our small business to simply survive.

Josh Flanders – state journal-register opinion piece