Workers’ Assembly

Daily business operations are managed by a professional staff, which is organized as the Workers’ Assembly. The Workers’ Assembly elects a liaison to the Board of Directors, and this Board-Staff Liaison acts as the line of accountability between the governance of the Co-op and our business operations.

The Co-op currently employs four workers, including our newest hire, Dana Curtis. Once completed, the Black Star Co-op brewpub is expected to grow its Worker’s assembly to approximately 15.

Steven Yarak
Steven founded the Co-op in January of 2006, and it quickly became his full-time occupation. An avid beer enthusiast, he had the good fortune to start drinking beer in Belgium, a nation smaller than Maryland which produces over 1,000 different beers! Steven studied physics at UT where he developed strong skills in scientific methods of problem solving. He is completely at home with a computer screen full of numbers, and his data analysis skills acquired in the sciences have proven invaluable in evaluating and projecting Co-op’s finances. In addition to his work with Black Star, Steven also serves on the Board of the US Federation of Worker Co-operatives and is an active member of the National Co-operative Business Association’s legislation and policy task force.

Jeff Young
Jeff is a professionally trained brewer who was attracted to Black Star Co-op out of a desire to share his creations with the community. Before becoming a brewer, he accumulated over 10 years of experience in science, engineering, and management. Jeff decided that he would rather direct his expertise into the rapidly growing craft beer scene. He graduated from the American Brewer’s Guild Intensive Brewing Science & Engineering program under Master Brewer Steve Parkes and has recently spent 5 weeks training on-site at Founders Brewing Company. All operations of the brewery will be under the purview of Jeff, including orchestrating brewery build-out, equipment acquisition, and brewing operations. He has been developing beer recipes for the brewpub for more than a year, and is eager to start production. Jeff believes that the art and craft of brewing is a unique combination of the sciences, arts, and engineering, and his beers reflect that fusion.

Karinne Thornblom
Karinne joined the Workers’ Assembly in August of 2009. She attended Southwest Texas State University and double majored in Spanish Lit and Psychology, and fulfilled her parents post-collegiate dream of having delved in to the service industry shortly after! She managed a downtown coffee bar for several years, and eventually was able to open her own, Clementine Coffee Bar, in 2006. Having developed a business concept and seeing it in to fruition, she hopes she can apply her experience to the benefit and success of Black Star Co-op!

Dana Curtis

Dana is the newest addition to the Black Star Worker’s Assembly. As a native Texan she has spent most of her life in the North Texas area, and is extremely excited to be part of the Austin community. She attended the University of Texas at Dallas where she studied Literature and Philosophy and went to graduate school at Texas Women’s University. She then taught undergraduate Women’s Studies at Texas Woman’s University before leaving academia to join the labor movement as a union organizer. Dana has committed her life to social justice and strongly believes in the transformative power of the co-operative model.  Having lots of experience with grassroots organizing, she will apply her knowledge and experience to grow the Black Star membership and Membership Investment Campaign.