Mike's sweet on Seattle for headquarters

Mike's Hard Lemonade is moving its headquarters from Denver to Seattle in April and plans to add 50 employees in the next year as it gears up to double production.

Denver-based Mike's, which makes malt beverages, is to sign a lease this week for space near Pioneer Square at the Washington Shoe Building at South Jackson Street and Occidental Avenue South.

"It was very difficult to find the caliber of people we needed in Denver or to get them to move [to Denver]," said Anthony von Mandl, Mike's founder and owner. "When we looked around the country, we came down to Chicago and Seattle. We chose Seattle because of the people and the consumer brands that have been created here."

Mike's, the second-largest malt-beverage company in the country, recently added a seventh facility and plans to debut another product in two to three weeks. Mike's made 11.4 million cases in 2003, the latest yearly data available from Beverage Marketing. (Smirnoff Ice brewed 22.8 million cases.) Mike's plans to double production in three years.

The announcement comes two weeks after Seattle-based Pyramid Breweries said it would move most of its production to Portland this month to start making contract malt beverages in Seattle for an unspecified company. The move is expected to be completed in the second quarter.

Von Mandl would not say whether Pyramid would be brewing Mike's beverages.

Mike's debuted six years ago and quickly became a hit. Production skyrocketed from 500,000 cases a year in 1999 to 11 million in 2001, according to Beverage Marketing. Large brewing companies quickly took note and introduced their own malt beverages under the Smirnoff Ice, Bacardi Silver and Skyy Blue brands.

Hiring information

New jobs: Mike's says it could hire 50 people in marketing, finance, operations, information technology and human-resources positions within the next year. To apply, go to goodfind.mikeshardlemonade.com or call 1-866-282-7586.