After getting a few years under its belt, the Samuel Adams
Brewing the American Dream microloan program is expanding out of the New England area into the Midwest, targeting Ohio small business owners.
Brewing the American Dream, a loan and mentoring program for small businesses owners in the food, beverage and hospitality industries, is partnering with local startup
Bad Girl Ventures to help businesses in these sectors grow.
Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch launched the program in 2008 to help New England area businesses, with
ACCION USA, the country's leading nonprofit micro-lender. Since then, the program has funded 55 companies, Koch said during an event announcement at the Samuel Adams plant in Over-the-Rhine last week.
Koch said the program is designed to help people like him, who 27 years ago had a small business but found it hard initially to grow and get access to capital.
"Small businesses can grow but they need access to loans and capital to grow, and they need solid business advice," he said.
The program, which awards loans of $500 to $25,000, is aimed at low- to moderate-income businesses. Koch views the program as a job creator and a way to boost long-term economic growth.
"As a business we create and add value to things. Creating jobs adds value, and I didn't feel I was doing that in a typical corporate charity (program)," he said.
In addition to loans, the program also offers business mentoring, coaching and business seminars, with the help of Bad Girl Ventures. This program expands the mission of BGV, launched last year by attorney Candace Klein to offer courses and microloans to women-owned businesses.
"This program shows Cincinnati is a great place for entrepreneurs," Klein said. "It's a great place for new and expanding businesses."
So why did Cincinnati-born Koch chose Ohio to expand, and Cincinnati as the place to make his announcement?
"This is part of my history, my family is still here," he said. "I want to help this neighborhood, the better this neighborhood becomes, the better it is for business."
Those interested in applying for the program can go online to the
Brewing the American Dream web site, which also lists application requirements, including having a credit score of at least 575, and having no bankruptcies in the last 12 months.
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Jim Koch, founder of Samuel Adams
You can follow Feoshia on twitter
@feoshiawrites
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