The head of one of Northern Kentucky’s most prominent distilleries is stepping down this week.
The founder and CEO of Newport-based New Riff Distilling, Ken Lewis, is officially retiring after ten years at the head of the company. His last day as CEO will be Wednesday, March 6. He first announced his intention to retire last June in an interview with American Whiskey Magazine.
Ken Lewis told LINK nky that it was an appropriate time to move on as the company had advanced past the startup stage and requires fresh leadership at the top to usher the distillery into a new era.
“I’m in my early 70s – it’s time,” he said. “Intellectually, I’m extremely pleased on a personal level. This is my fiftieth year in business and I’ve gotten to where I am by working my butt off five, six, sometimes seven days a week.”
Under his leadership, New Riff has increased it’s distribution to 29 U.S. states, opened a large barrel warehouse in Silver Grove, completed a $3 million distillery renovation and produced a number of award-winning whiskeys.
While Ken Lewis is stepping down as CEO, he’ll still be involved with New Riff by continuing to serve on the company’s board of directors. Looking forward, he’ll occupy his time serving on the board of various community agencies like the Northern Kentucky Convention Center.
New Riff’s next generation of leadership will feature new CEO Hannah Lowen, Mollie Lewis – Ken’s daughter – as president, and Denny Gormanas as chief operating officer. Each person has already logged years of experience at the company.
“With the new leadership transition, there will be a little bit of an evolution,” Mollie Lewis said. “I think that we feel that we are the right people in the right seats.”
In many ways, New Riff grew up alongside the statewide bourbon boom of the past decade. When Ken founded New Riff in 2014, the popularity of Kentucky’s signature spirit was surging nationally.
In total, the bourbon industry generates $9 billion in total economic impact for the Bluegrass State. Since 1999, bourbon production increased by 495%, according to the Kentucky Distillers Association. Today, Kentucky has 100 licensed distillers operating in 42 counties. For Ken Lewis and New Riff, the timing was perfect.
“I think we got in at a great time to ride that wave,” he said.
From his perspective, the bourbon industry is moving from booming toward a more modest growth trajectory. Throughout his tenure, New Riff has opted for a deliberate growth strategy to lay the groundwork for a sustainable operation – something Ken Lewis thinks will prove to be a prudent decision long-term if market conditions change.
“It’s been organic, healthy growth fueled by what the market wanted from us although we’ve been very cautious about our expansion,” Ken Lewis said.
As such, Ken Lewis is confident that New Riff’s second generation of leaders will be attuned to the managerial, organizational and technological demands of running the company on a day-to-day basis. Like her father, Mollie Lewis is also confident in her team’s leadership capabilities.
“As an entrepreneur and as someone who started a business, he (Ken Lewis) wears a lot of hats,” Mollie Lewis said. “I think just having different people for the different hats will give us all more attention and time to focus on those facets of what he’s started; whether it’s planning financially, whether it’s public facing or interacting with the community, or just developing the structure for the employees.”
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