Sean-Thomas Pumphrey

“Almost every decision we have made as a company comes from the mindset I learned at The Richmond MBA.”

Sean-Thomas Pumphrey, founder of Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery (LCCB), credits his time at Richmond with helping him work to achieve his career ambition of creating a regional craft brewery that becomes synonymous with the state of Virginia.

LCCB is located on a 221 acre farm in Goochland County, taking its name from Little Lickinghole Creek which runs through the farm. Breaking ground in September for business to begin in 2013, Pumphrey has great plans for the brewery, many of which are based on lessons learned as an MBA candidate, while staying true to Virginia’s heritage.  LCCB’s co-founder, Farris Loutfi, was an MBA classmate at University of Richmond.  “Throughout the planning of the brewery we have leaned upon a lot of what we both learned while at Richmond,” Pumphrey said.

Designing a building that “integrates seamlessly with its surrounding environment,” Pumphrey said LCCB will resemble a Virginia horse barn. Since one of Pumphrey’s goals is to help preserve and improve the water quality of the James River Watershed and the Chesapeake Bay, LCCB’s relationship to the environment is of utmost importance.

To help with this effort, Pumphrey aims to keep LCCB’s operations local. “LCCB will be one of a select few of craft breweries that will offer beers where much of the barley, hops and many adjuncts (pumpkins, fruit, herbs, etc.) are grown directly on the property that houses the brewery,” he said. Other distinguishing features include using an American-made brewhouse from Oregon and, most importantly to Pumphrey, “our water that is sent down the drain is treated, held and slowly released back into the watershed in a clean form so it isn't wasted.”

Having been born and raised in Richmond, Pumphrey said The Richmond MBA appealed to him because it was “both flexible with my schedule and provided me with the education I needed to make my dream of opening a craft brewery a reality.” Having previously pursued a career in sales for ten years, Pumphrey is motivated in his new venture by “the challenge of doing something that very few others have done.” He said the most fulfilling, and challenging, part of establishing LCCB has been creating a brand from the ground up.

Pumphrey points to his time at Richmond in helping prepare him for these challenges. “The Richmond MBA did a fantastic job of getting us to think dynamically and strategically. We constantly are "looking at more stuff harder" and we strive to compete only in "blue waters.” Both of these points are cornerstones of our strategic mindset and both I picked up from my time at Richmond,” he said.

One of the many lessons he learned at Richmond is now a foundational belief at LCCB. He said, “I had the good fortune of having fantastic peers and professors with good senses of humor in many of my classes. My experience helped solidify a primary principle of LCCB, which is to work hard and have fun. The two can go together.”

Pumphrey has already made great strides in founding LCCB, both personally and for Virginia’s craft beer industry. In following his passions and dreams, Pumphrey will surely have a great impression on locals and tourists alike who visit Lickinghole.