Tony Bowker

Chief Operating Officer

Tony Bowker moved to a new home near Chicago’s Clybourn Corridor in 1989 and quickly discovered a neighborhood amenity the likes of which he had not known existed in America – a pub with fresh cask-conditioned ale served on beer engines (aka ‘hand pumps’). Tony immediately adopted the Goose Island brew pub as his “local” and thus began a love affair that has never cooled: Tony frequently carried Honker’s Ale in growlers to his English home county of Sussex, experienced his first beer dinner (reputedly of nine courses and eighteen beers) at the brewpub in 1993, and befriended John Hall while chairing the street festival that became Goose Island Fest.

By 2000, having found Goose Island intersecting his passions at every turn (boosting Chicago, supporting his neighborhood, sailing upon Lake Michigan, great authentic ales), Tony finally posed to John the question “may I help?” and was welcomed aboard as Chief Financial Officer. For the next five years Tony worked with John to establish a sustainable business model as the company struggled to grow distribution while burdened by the costs of funding improvements to the Fulton Street brewery and of acquiring the Wrigleyville pub. Finally, in 2006, Goose Island was able to reacquire the rights to market its products and to transfer distribution to the Anheuser-Busch wholesaler network. Promoted to Chief Operating Officer, Tony assumed responsibility for brewery operations, marketing, and financial administration. Following these changes there ensued epic growth in the brewery’s sales until, in 2010, demand for Goose Island’s beers outstripped the brewery’s capacity to produce, leading John and his partners to seek new capital to take the company ‘to the next level’, eventually deciding that full ownership by Anheuser-Busch would best ensure access to the financial wherewithal for growth while securing the company’s heritage and artisanal culture of innovation.

Tony began his working life in England as a Chartered Accountant in the public accountancy profession. After spells in Italy and the Middle East, Tony moved to Chicago in 1983 with a large public holding company and has served in senior financial and marketing management positions with companies in the consumer products industry and in real estate services. He is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Today, Tony lives in that same house near the Clybourn brewpub, is married to Jennifer and is father of Dominic, Georgina, Caroline, and Kate. He is an avid runner, a competitive sailor, an occasional actor, a former blues musician, and an ardent supporter of the USC Trojan football team (“Fight On!”). He serves on the boards of the Sue Duncan Children’s Center Foundation and of Rock For Reading NFP.

Fun facts about Tony: he is both a Certified Parking Facility Manager and a Kentucky Colonel.

Mark Kamarauskas

Director of Operations

Mark Kamarauskas has lived in the far south suburbs all his life, mainly Mokena.  He played basketball through college and started his career in operations through summer jobs. He worked as a bottle unloader, filler operator and labeler operator.  After graduating college with a business degree he went on to become a packaging line supervisor for the locally owned Canfield Beverage Company.  He went on to become a operations manager for a locally owned Coca-Cola bottler called the Herb Group.  After 8 years of working for Marvin Herb, Coca-Cola Enterprise purchased the group and made significant changes to the management philosophy.  Mark resigned his position that summer in 2002 and spent the summer with his family.  That same summer Mark met John Hall and Tony Bowker through a mutual friend and the rest is history.

Mark currently lives in Mokena in the same home that he grew up in.  He and his wife, Tracy, are raising 4 girls and 1 boy.

Bob Kenney

Vice President of Sales

Bob Kenney began his working life at Fairfield University as an Assistant Director of the Campus Center. In this role, he met many suppliers in the beer industry as he managed the college pub as part of his responsibilities.  It was in fact one of these suppliers that got Bob into the beer business as a representative for Heineken Beer in the greater Hartford Connecticut market.  Bob remained with Heineken for 23 years. During his career, Bob rose from his initial representative role to the New England Division Manager, to Central Regional Director, to General Manager of the central United States. 

One of several moves Bob made while working for this major US imported beer company brought him to Chicago back in 1995. In 2005, instead of opting for one more move, Bob decided to stay put in the suburbs of Chicago and see what developed. After a short stint at a fast pour startup company, Bob’s resume crossed the desk of Goose Island’s CEO John Hall at a very opportune moment.  John had just reached an agreement to move the distribution rights of his beer into the Anheuser Busch Network and was looking for someone to manage his growing sales team. This launched Bob’s life into the wonderful world of craft beer as the Vice President of Sales for Goose Island Beer Company in 2006.

In the beginning, the majority of the sales team was focused in the Chicagoland area with one person in Ohio and another in Wisconsin. Even though Goose Island had been distributing beers to New York City for several years, there was never any sales help in that market.  Bob had some work to do. Not only did he need to learn all about Goose Island Beer Company and its culture, he needed to expand the reach of the sales organization. Bob embarked on this journey during the midst of an explosive growth spurt delivered by new wholesale partners. Today, the sales team is 29 members strong with more additions planned for the future. The group consists of people living and working in 10 states from Iowa to Boston. Growth continues unabated and the future looks great! Bob is very proud to “have a hand in shaping the future of this great organization”.

  
Today Bob lives in the Chicago suburb of Naperville with his wife Annette. His two grown sons both gainfully employed live on the east coast.  Having grown up in Boston, Bob has never lost his love of all things New England and some people say his accent. Bob is an avid golfer, works at trying to stay in shape, loves to read and enjoys traveling.