Mike Leb named Entrepreneur of the Year by Envision Fond du Lac

Rich Palzewic

Staff

May 4, 2026

FOND DU LAC – For his role in bringing Fond du Lac Beer Company to the city of roughly 44,000 residents, CEO Mike Leb was recently named the Entrepreneur of the Year by Envision Greater Fond du Lac.

He said receiving the award was a big honor – one he doesn’t take for granted.

“I’m an entrepreneur at heart – that’s how I’ve always described myself,” he said. “For the [chamber] to recognize me, it was quite an honor. I don’t think being an entrepreneur is an easy thing. It’s a lot about saying ‘yes’ when your gut tells you to say ‘no,’ but you keep pushing forward.”

Leb said it’s that drive to keep moving forward that brings ventures like Fond du Lac Beer Company – which first appeared in the The Business News’ July 28, 2025 issue – come to be.

“With the other [seven] companies besides the brewery I oversee, it’s been a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s really humbling to be recognized.”

Leb said the majority of the companies he oversees operate in the insurance and tech sectors. 

However, with both the brewery and Leb Insurance Group more visible within the Fond du Lac community, he said he believes local presence played a significant role in Envision Greater Fond du Lac recognizing him.

“The brewery is very consumer-facing, so locally, you see it more,” he said. “It’s become a nice community gathering place.”

Bringing the brewery to life

Before establishing the Fond du Lac Beer Company in June 2025, Leb said the city was one of the largest municipalities in the United States without a brewery.

“I’m happy we are no longer part of that conversation,” he laughed.

Seeing “exponential growth” in its first year serving up brews, Leb said Fond du Lac Beer Company has been “more successful than I could have ever imagined.”

“Obviously, with a city the size of Fond du Lac not having a brewery for more than 80 years, I expected the first few months to be quite crazy, but what has occurred after that has been something special,” he said. “The continued support [beyond the first few months] is encouraging.”

Leb said the brewery has a lot of local support, but when he visits 21 4th St. Court on any given day, he often doesn’t recognize many of the patrons.

“I’d say it’s more than half,” he said. “That means people are coming from other communities, which is awesome. The whole idea of a brewery being a destination business model is proving true. We seem to be getting a lot of people who are visiting the city – some for the first time – simply to visit the brewery.”

Not yet a year into operations, Leb said Fond du Lac Beer Company is still in the “ramping up” phase.

“We’re doing a lot more events like weddings, birthday parties, celebrations of life, concerts, etc.,” he said. “We’ve done yoga upstairs and some murder mysteries. We’ve done a lot of neat things to bring people into the space. Once they’re in the doors, then they get to experience our beer and food.”

Originally starting with seven brews on tap, Leb said the brewery is now up to about a dozen, including ciders.

“All of our taps are full, and now you can also get our beer to-go in a crowler can,” he said. “Within the next few weeks, we’re also going to begin distribution. We’ll start canning and distributing our beer to local bars and event spaces.”

Leb said beer distribution is “definitely a sign of a brewery’s financial stability and growth.”

“We didn’t want to distribute right away because I wanted to make sure our tap room clients were taken care of and we had enough inventory to pour for them,” he said. “Now that we have that dialed in, distribution will start.”