New Glarus' Deb Carey rubs shoulders with Obamas, Apple CEO at State of the Union address

White House Press

New Glarus Brewing Co. president Deb Carey sat next to Apple CEO Tim Cook and behind First Lady Michelle Obama at Tuesday's State of the Union address in Washington, D.C.

Wisconsin residents scanning First Lady Michelle Obama?s contingent at Tuesday night?s State of the Union address might have noticed a local face sitting next to Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook.

Yep, that was Deb Carey, founder and president of New Glarus Brewing Co., sandwiched between Cook and Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, a row behind the First Lady.

Carey was part of a small group invited by the First Lady to attend the speech by President Barack Obama, including Oak Creek Police Lt. Brian Murphy, who was shot while responding to last August?s shooting at an Oak Creek Sikh temple.

Carey got the call from Michelle Obama's Feb. 8.

?It?s just really thrilling to me,? Carey told me in a phone interview Friday. ?I think it?s a great honor. It was totally unexpected. I was just going about my Friday thinking I was going to get through it and then (the call) was like a bombshell.?

Carey and her husband, Dan, the company?s master brewer, paid their way to Washington, D.C., Carey said.

It wasn?t her first time getting a special invite from the White House. Carey has visited the nation?s capital a handful of times for meetings of the White House small business council, and in November the group spoke with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden about the fiscal cliff and challenges their small businesses face.

In 2011, Carey was named Wisconsin?s Small Business Person of the Year and the national runner-up Small Business Person of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

She called Tuesday?s atmosphere ?electric.?

?I felt privileged to be a witness because I thought the president did an excellent job of bridge building and reaching out for solutions for all of America and not being partisan,? Carey said of the State of the Union address. ?I think it?s hard for anyone to argue against correcting housing issues or creating jobs.?

Jeff Engel is The Business Journal's reporter covering the manufacturing industry and technology.

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