40 Under 40 Awards Magazine 2016

Luke and his boy, Everett
entrepreneur
Luke Livingston
Founder & CEO, Baxter Brewing Company
Luke has maintained a passion for
craft beer and brewing since his twentyfirst
birthday, when he received his first
homebrewing kit as a gift. Shortly after
graduating college, he created a beer blog
and learned about “west coast
styles” of beer and marketing as
well as the then-revolutionary
idea of canning
craft beer. After losing
his mother to breast cancer
in January, 2009,
Luke quit his day job to
write a business plan for
his own canned craft
brewery. As founder and
CEO of Baxter Brewing
Company, he is most
heavily involved in sales
and marketing and is
particularly focused on
building and maintaining
the brewery’s chain
sales channel. His favorite
part of his job is
having the privilege
every day of getting to
make and sell beer for a
living. Also, he says, “it’s
always great to see your
friends at the bar!”
A 2003 graduate of Edward
Little High School
in Auburn, Luke traveled
away for college and ultimately
settled in South
Portland with his wife
and their two-year-old
son, Everett. When it
came to a location for the
brewery, however, he says there was no
other option than LA. Having grown up
locally, most of his business
connections were here and he was excited
at the idea of breathing some life back into
the mills he watched sit vacant for many
years before. There was also a competitive
advantage to doing business in LA, as for
some time Baxter Brewing Company was
the only production brewery in the area.
Luke’s favorite thing about LA is its
small town vibe. He enjoys enormous support
from the LA community and especially
the municipality itself, which he
says has always far exceeded the support
he could get in a larger, more crowded
market. He loves his “mill-mates,”
DaVinci’s and Fish Bones, as well as the
restaurants on Lisbon Street like Forage,
Marché and Orchid. Though most of his
time off work is spent chasing his twoyear-old
around, when he can Luke likes
to play disc sports. He also juggles, is a
huge baseball fan, and spends as much
time as possible outside exploring Maine.
The two causes Luke is most passionate
about relate to animals and the environment.
He gives back to his community
through his involvement with the Androscoggin
Hospice House and the Androscoggin
Humane Society.
In the future, Luke plans to still be living
and working in Maine, making beer
and continuing to learn new things in his
business.
Luke enjoys a Baxter
Baxter on tap
44 UPLIFT LA 40 UNDER 40