The idea of opening a craft brewery had been fermenting, so to speak, in Mike Malinowski’s head for a few years before he was ready to bring it to reality. Initially, homebrewing was just a hobby, but when his first attempts turned out well, it became a passion.
He joined the Akron-based Society of Akron Area Zymurgists and began taking notes on the different types of systems before finally building his own. But even after his beers began winning medals, Mike wasn’t ready to give up his corporate job, although the idea of opening a brewery was never far from his mind.
After making several corporate job changes, he decided it was time to turn his passion into a profitable venture.
“I was 55 when I started, so I was kind of nervous because it was a big leap to make at that age. But I enjoyed taking that hobby to the next level and actually opening the doors,” Mike says.
He leased a building in Massillon’s downtown area to serve as the home of Paradigm Shift Brewery. Then came several months of renovations, structural changes and equipment purchases, not to mention the government red tape to get licensing.
Family and friends rolled up their sleeves and brought their collective talents to help get Paradigm ready. One friend handled the sanitary welding while another used his carpentry skills to build the bar and back cabinetry. Even Mike’s elderly grandmother Evelyn lent a hand—literally—taking it upon herself to sand an interior door.
“It usually takes about 18 months once you move in to get up and running, but we did it in five,” he recalls proudly. “I'm very fortunate that I've got great family and friends, and they have been very supportive and helpful. It was a lot of fun going through that process because I had my friends here all the time.”
Equally helpful was Mike’s background: an undergraduate degree in accounting coupled with an MBA degree, a Lean Six Sigma black belt and extensive experience in continuous improvement.
Finally, in November 2017, Paradigm opened its doors, with Mike running the business full-time and his wife Jennifer serving as office manager. Since then, he has steadily increased the size of his staff and now has 12 to 15 employees, including his brewer Tim, his kitchen manager Heather, and his general manager Jennifer.
And while he says he’s been “very blessed with my staff,” Kathy Shultz, Assistant Vice President, Branch Manager, believes it’s the example he sets that makes the operation run smoothly.
“Mike is not only the owner, but he is also the hardest working staff member there,” Shultz says. “You can feel the passion he has for his business, and he does everything with integrity and professionalism. He sets the example of going above and beyond the norm in creating an effective team, and this provides a fun, positive experience for his patrons as well as the staff.”
The Growth of the Brewery
Mike has followed the “slow and steady wins the race” dictum during the past eight years, carefully evaluating each change to ensure that it made good business sense. In the past few years, he added a front addition that gave the brewery a total seating capacity of 85 and purchased the two lots adjacent to the brewery that will allow him to expand in the future.
The food and beverage selections have also grown. Initially he only sold his craft beer and soft drinks, but when he added the kitchen, he was able to have a full bar in addition to the 20 different beer styles on tap.
“Because of our demographics, we have to be very versatile, so we have stouts, sours, light lagers—a little bit of everything to appease the masses,” he says. “We have 74 different types of beers, and we're getting ready to add to that list.”
There are also seasonal favorites such as the Oktoberfest, pumpkin beer and Christmas ale. And in honor of the brewery’s eighth anniversary, Mike will release a special barrel-aged beer called “Blanche” that he named after his wife’s grandmother.
He’s also justifiably proud of the industry awards his beers have earned: a medal in the Great American Beer Festival (a competition for breweries in the United States) as well as gold and silver medals in the Ohio Craft Brewer Cup.
Beyond the beverages, Paradigm has a diverse food selection that includes appetizers, salads, handhelds and flatbreads, a children’s menu and daily specials along with brunch from noon to 4 p.m. On the entertainment side, the brewery has live music every Sunday and on the last Saturday of the month, Music Trivia on Wednesday, and Open Mic on the second and fourth Tuesdays.
It’s all designed to appeal to Paradigm’s clientele that falls in the mid-thirties and older range, he says. “Most of our regulars know each other and they come in here quite often. We’re a very family-friendly place,” Mike says.
Shultz agrees. “Paradigm Shift is a unique business that brings in people who might otherwise go elsewhere. He’s really developed a very loyal following. He’s also very active in the community and is on many of the city boards and committees. Mike wants to see Massillon become a welcoming, vibrant, supportive, inclusive, and diverse place to be—a place to go for fun, work, and great experiences.”
As for the name, it had its genesis in Mike’s past career in continuous improvement. As he explains, his role in the corporate sector was to encourage people to think “outside the box”: look at things differently and thereby make a paradigm shift. He’s taken that same approach to his business, hoping to get people to make the shift to craft beer.
Brewing Success with Farmers National Bank
The affiliation between Paradigm and Farmers began in 2017, when Mike was searching for a bank that could handle his personal and business financial needs.
“Farmers is a community bank, and I was very impressed by it,” Mike says. “They are very easy to work with for our general banking needs as well as when I decided to purchase this building and needed to buy equipment. And I was even more impressed by Kathy. Once I met her, it was a solid deal. She helped me set up accounts on the business side and introduced me to others at Farmers for other banking products. Everything I need I can get at Farmers. Honestly, I'm very, very happy with the bank.”
“Farmers has worked with Mike to provide the products and services that help him run his business efficiently and satisfy all his financial needs as economically and safely as possible. The bank is happy to be his financial partner to accomplish all his goals and dreams,” says Kathy, adding, “From my perspective, I feel that I not only gained a business client, but also a friend.”