Accounting alumna and team open Glassboro brewery

For the last several years, Rohrer College of Business (RCB) alumna Krystle Lockman’s husband, Josh, brewed craft beer in his spare time. That hobby fermented into a business this spring when the duo opened Axe & Arrow Brewery, a 2,500-square-foot storefront in Glassboro’s new Town Square, within walking distance of RCB.

“My husband started home brewing as something fun to do. He often brewed with others who had been home brewing for much longer, to learn all he could from them,” said Lockman, who earned both a bachelor’s and a Master of Business Administration degree in Accounting from RCB, in 2010 and 2018.

Director of accounting for a special educational services firm, Lockman was eager to learn about the craft beer industry, which is growing rapidly in the region. “With my business background and my husband's knowledge of brewing, we decided that we had a good team to make something happen.”

To fuel their enterprise, they received a $100,000 loan toward equipment and a $60,000 working capital loan for startup costs from THRIVE South Jersey, an initiative of New Jersey Community Capital that supports economic development and job creation efforts.

“I enjoy learning about the laws and rules surrounding the industry, building the production processes and operations procedures,” Lockman said. “I like running a business.”

She believes her Rowan accounting degrees provided the groundwork for both careers. “They prepared me for the corporate world and to excel in corporate accounting. I’m the director of accounting now, and if I weren’t running my own business, I would probably be looking toward controllership-type positions. They are the catalysts for anything business related that I do,” she said. 

Axe & Arrow engages customers with a selection of regular and seasonal brews on tap, games and events. The brewery produces colorful trading cards for every beer, describing style, alcohol content and bitterness, and customers collect them. “People like to collect things, so it seems to be working really well,” Lockman said.

Customers also like the brewery’s free tours. Because Axe & Arrow is a manufacturing facility, it is required by state law to offer customers educational tours. “Students ask the most questions about the brewing process and want to go back and look at the equipment,” she said.

Glassboro’s redevelopment drew Fletcher and the Lockmans to its location. “This area is home for us. It’s cool to be on the ground floor, especially because breweries do bring people into an area. It's been fun helping them build the community so far,” she said.

“We’re trying to go for the small-town feel and we want everyone to feel welcome,” Lockman said. “While you have to jump on the beer trends, we are trying to be the brewery where anyone can go and find something they like.” 

According to Dean Sue Lehrman, “This alumni success story reflects the spirit of entrepreneurial thinking that we strive to instill in students across all our majors, representing the creativity, initiative, grit and agility that it takes to start a venture from scratch. It also demonstrates Rowan’s commitment to serving as an economic engine for the region through the development of innovative products, services and ideas.”