Without winter, there’s no skiing. That means no après ski celebrations. And the après bars at ski resorts like Aspen and Vail are some of the biggest clients of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits of Colorado. The regional division of North America’s largest distributor of adult beverages recently partnered with nonprofit Protect our Winters (POW) to show customers and local mountain communities that they seriously care about the planet’s future.

Southern Glazer’s has committed to donating $1 of every case of alcohol sold in Colorado up to $25,000 and hopes to double that commitment next year. That puts the shipping company on par with some of POW’s marquee brand partners, like Patagonia and Yeti. SGWS isn’t a household name like many of POW’s partners. The multigenerational, family-run company is a conduit, like Amazon, that sells other brand’s products.

“They don’t fit the traditional mold of our corporate partners, but I think it’s cool they recognize that POW can support their green initiatives and with their scale and reach across Colorado they can support ours,” says Patrick King, POW’s director of strategic partnerships. If the first year of the alliance is successful, King says he’d explore expanding it to SGWS’s other markets throughout the West.

Everet Minett, the on-premise wine consultant for SGWS in Aspen, says his team realized what’s good for the environment is good for the company. The ski industry brings in a lot of money to Colorado. Climate change effects the economy, the bottom line of the bars, restaurants, and liquor stores SGWS services, and the farmers who grow the grapes and grains that go into the wine and spirits the company sells.

The partnership is also a way for SGWS of Colorado to engage the state’s very diverse client base as well as its 300some employees. “We realized everyone cares about the mountains,” says Jeremy Barbin, spirits consultant for SGWS of Colorado. “We’re a huge corporation and this partnership personalizes the business. It’s a way for our clients and sales force to feel good, top to bottom.”

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