Shawnee Chamber Board Unanimously Votes in Approval to Support Repeal of Liquor-by-the-Drink Requirement
Shawnee, Kansas (September 30, 2020) - The Shawnee Chamber of Commerce and its Board of Directors has announced its full endorsement of a vote Yes to repeal the dated liquor-by-the-drink requirement in the upcoming November election. The action comes after the recent Shawnee Chamber's September Board of Directors meeting and will take form in support of the already establish grassroots #LoseThe30 initiative.
The Shawnee Chamber has developed a landing page and social media campaign around the #LoseThe30 initiative. The landing page can be found at www.shawneekschamber.com/losethe30. The Shawnee Chamber is working in coordination with our community’s existing establishments that are unnecessarily burdened by this archaic regulation and has listed a variety of Frequently Asked Questions on its #LoseThe30 webpage.
The #Losethe30 question will be found at the end of all Johnson County ballots for the upcoming election and the Shawnee Chamber encourages all to voters to answer YES to the specific verbiage: "Shall sale of alcoholic liquor by the individual drink in Johnson County be allowed in public places without a requirement that a portion of their gross receipts be from sales of food?"
Regarding, the #Losethe30 campaign and the issue behind the initiative, Ann Smith-Tate said “At its core, this is a small business issue. Our local and neighborhood small businesses are routinely dealing with a dated regulation that is currently creating unnecessary stress to their owners. The regulation also hinders economic development as we’ve seen a much more rapid growth of local cocktail bars, breweries, wineries and distilleries across the state line. It's time to bring Johnson County into the 21st Century in regard to our liquor regulation, much like our counterparts in Shawnee, Douglas, Wyandotte and Sedgwick Counties.”
Local brewery owner Courtney Servaes is also advocating for a repeal of the liquor-by-the-drink rule. On the effect of the regulation on her brewery she noted, “When we were trying to decide where we wanted Servaes Brewing Co. to be located, the liquor-by-the-drink rule was something that almost caused us to choose a different county. It is an extremely outdated rule that most counties throughout Kansas have done away with because they recognize how much of a strain it puts on local businesses. Removing it would not only benefit existing businesses, like myself, but would also help encourage new businesses to choose Johnson County as their home.”
On how her business operations will change should the liquor-by-the-drink law be repealed Servaes added, “With or without this rule, we will continue to partner with local restaurants to provide food options for our customers, but removing it would certainly allow us to focus more on our passion and less on the logistics of meeting an unrealistic food percentage.”
The Shawnee Chamber will be continuously advocating for Johnson County to #LoseThe30 in its social media and member communication in the coming weeks, with the hopes of positive results in the November election. It is partnering with area local establishments Drastic Measures, Transport Brewery, Servaes Brewing Co., Shawnee Mission Beach Volleyball and Limitless Brewing on the #LoseThe30 campaign.
Shawnee Chamber of Commerce
Established in 1946, the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce is a membership organization with 650 business members that works to preserve the best possible business climate and quality of life for Shawnee. The Shawnee Chamber Corporation 501 (c)(6) includes the Shawnee Chamber of Commerce, and two divisions including the Economic Development Council and Visit Shawnee. For more information, contact us at 913.631.6545 or visit our website at www.goodstartshere.com.
