BURLINGTON, NC-- The first cooperatively-owned brewery and restaurant in North Carolina is getting ready to open its doors in downtown Burlington.

• Burlington Beer Works has more than 2,000 committed members
• Creators hope this sparks other development in Burlington
• The brewery is open to the public and still accepting new members

The vision has been five years in the making, and now Burlington Beer Works has more than 2,000 committed members.

Creators say they hope this helps spark other development in downtown Burlington.     

Eric Henry, on the board of directors for the brewery, said, "Downtown Burlington, like a lot of small downtowns, has gone through its transition. We've seen a downturn with malls and shopping centers and things like that, so this is an opportunity to bring people back downtown."

Tracy Schmidt, the general manager, said, "Years ago, downtown was thriving, and we've seen businesses filter out of the area into malls and strip malls, so to bring this to downtown and realize what it can do for downtown, we're just really excited."

The brewery is open to the public, and still accepting co-op members. They plan to open by the end of next month.