How one gentleman became successful as part of Southern Tier Brewery and another managed age diversity in his work place were presented to Westfield/Mayville Rotarians recently.

Nathan Arnone, Southern Tier brand manager, a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology School of Art and Design, paid a visit to an industrial park to investigate a news story he had read regarding a new brewery opening in the area.

At the time, he was working with colleague Gary Peters of Jamestown. The visit was an introduction to Phineas DeMink, a founder of Southern Tier Brewing Company. Unfortunately the brewery already had its identity created by another design firm.

Several months later, Arnone received a phone call from DeMink and began working on the first marketing materials. One project turned into another.

But, that’s not the end of the story. Arnone became a full-time graphic designer for the brewery in 2005. Given the opportunity, he also plugs Southern Tier has more than 80 employees, and “We now deliver beer to 38 states,” he said. “We are one of the top 100 breweries in the world and were recently named one of the top 40 breweries in the U.S. due to the quality of the beer.”

In addition to a year with a Jamestown company and six with Williamsville Habiterra Architects & Landscape Architects, he also has been a freelance graphic designer in Lakewood.

The brewery has a pub and a tasting room. Hours for touring are 4-10 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Tours are held Saturdays beginning at 12:15 p.m. More information can be found at stbcbeer.com.

Managing age diversity in today’s workplace requires managers to do some juggling, according to Mark Anderson, president of Camp Chautauqua, which was founded by his father, Roger, and opened in 1968.

Anderson broke down workers into four time periods: Mature, Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennial. A quick look at each gives the reader an idea about those “diversities” as time has gone by.

Mature: Born prior to 1946 during the end of The Great Depression; lived through World War II. What to remember about them: dedicated to a job once they take it; placed duty before pleasure; patience was a virtue; honor and integrity were critical parts of their doing; patience was a virtue.

Baby Boomers: Born from 1946 to 1968, Baby Boomers entered a new economy after World War II with factories pumping out new cars and appliances; houses built fast; continue to drive the economy with emphasis on convenience. What to remember: they lived to work; had a general sense of optimism no matter what; had unprecedented influence on government policy and products; team and process orientation; and are nostalgic about their youth.

Generation X: Born 1968-85, Generation X had a significantly different experience beginning with the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, the U.S. was plunged into social turmoil with women’s liberation, civil rights, anti-war protests, Watergate, inflation, layoffs plus many other troubling events. This also was the generation of dual career couples who produced “Latch-Key” kids who came home to an empty house; 40 percent of Generation X have lived through at least one divorce. What to remember: they work to live rather than live to work; jobs are viewed within the context of a contract; clear and consistent expectations are essential.

Millennial: Born between 1985 and 2005, they feel betrayed by what they were taught about family and society; are growing up in a world where those beliefs were already compromised; the media have enlightened them about things closer generations never dreamed of – development of technology, a world of cell phones, pagers, voice recognition, software, the Internet. They are the most demographic generation in U.S. history, with one in three defined as a minority and one in four growing up in a single-parent home. With 80 million entering the adult world in this decade, they will garner intense scrutiny from politicians and marketers. What to remember about Millennial: conditioned to live in the moment; used to the immediacy of the technology; earn money for the purpose of immediate consumption; have grown up learning to question everything; as a generation, they are astoundingly diverse, i.e. technology has all the answers.