Becky Schlauch, Administrator, Montana Department of Revenue, Alcoholic Beverage Control Division, was voted incoming chair-elect to the NABCA Board of Directors. She will assume her responsibilities in May 2023, when current Chair-Elect Fred Wooton, Commissioner of the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration, becomes NABCA Chairman of the Board.
When she becomes the chair, Schlauch will become the sixth woman to hold this post and the second one from Montana. Her predecessors were Stephanie O’Brien from Vermont, 2016-2017; Shauna Helfert from Montana, 2009-2010; Johnnie Burton from Wyoming 2000-2001; Maxine Perry from Michigan, 1994-1995; and Paula O’Connor from Washington, 1992-1993.
“Being elected to serve in the future role of NABCA chairwoman of the board is a great honor and one I will not take lightly,” said Schlauch. “I look forward to continue working alongside an extremely talented group on the Board and to using these relationships to further improve the way NABCA supports control systems and the numerous partners that participate in the beverage alcohol marketplace,” she added.
Schlauch has been the Administrator of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division since 2017. She began her career with the state in 2010 as the Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Public Health and Human Services. She has earned two Governor’s Awards for Excellence and received the 10th annual Leadership in Alcohol Regulation Award from the Center for Alcohol Policy in 2022.
As an active NABCA board member, she has served and led several board-level committees such as finance and internal affairs. She was also a member on the governance committee. Additionally, Schlauch has chaired several of the association’s advisory committees that include IT, regulatory, distribution center logistics, and products and procedures. Schlauch is the Western Region Vice-Chair for the National Conference of State Liquor Administrators.
“Having worked alongside Becky during her years on the board, she is well in tune with the important role our control systems play in finding that critical balance between public safety and commerce,” said NABCA’s President & CEO Neal Insley. “Becky’s years of experience as Administrator for Montana’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, her collaborative leadership style and her position in the state’s department of public health serve as excellent pillars for her upcoming leadership on the NABCA board. I look forward to working with her in that capacity,” he said.
Schlauch completed her education at the University of Montana in Missoula, receiving both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in Business Administration. In her early career, she worked in accounting for 15 years at newspapers in Montana and Wyoming, finishing up her newspaper career as the controller of the Helena Independent Record. During her newspaper career, she received a Lee Enterprises President’s Award for excellence.
Schlauch and her husband, Pat, live in Seeley Lake, MT and have six children and seven grandchildren.
