Sam Adams Serves Up $100,000 in Microloans and Advice to Craft Beer Entrepreneurs

“Believe me, I know first hand the challenges people face when turning a passion into a viable small business from my days as a homebrewer trying to start a business in my kitchen with only two people,” said Jim Koch, founder and owner of Boston Beer Co. in a telephone interview this week.

With a firm grip on nearly 1% of the U.S. craft beer market, Koch competes with giants in the industry every day.  Despite the success of Samuel Adams beers, he still likes to keep close to his entrepreneurial roots, and has set up a unique program to assist craft brewers nationwide.

“Essentially we discovered a funding gap because small shop craft brewers have a hard time getting loans under $50K - even under $25K in most cases - and we know a lot of craft brewers out there who can make magic happen with a $10K loan,” said Koch.

So he pledged $100,000 this year to an innovative micro lending program with partner ACCION USA to help small breweries. Koch (along with his senior management and employees from Sam Adams) also host events and share their expertise and insights through seminars, webinars and coaching events. Entrepreneurial brewers receive free mentoring, professional advice and coaching about how to pursue, sustain or grow their passion in the craft brewing marketplace.

The Brewing the American Dream initiative started as a regional charitable venture in 2008. Before Koch began backing craft brewers nationwide, the program originally helped food, beverage and hospitality small business owners to start and grow their operations in New England, New York City, Ohio, and the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. To date, the program has created or saved 589 jobs.

Last year the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) presented Koch and his employees with the organization’s Founder’s Award for Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy, established by actor Paul Newman and other business leaders. It is among the most coveted awards in the corporate giving community, drawing an extraordinary pool of nominees each year.

Brewing the American Dream complements the iconic role Koch has come to play as a pioneer of the craft beer movement. He kick-started that movement in 1984 when he first began his brewing adventures armed with a pre-prohibition formula for his flagship Boston Lager resurrected from his granddad’s attic. Koch’s entrepreneurial spirit was undaunted after being rejected by a number of financial institutions and turned down by distributors who refused to deliver his product in the very early days of his career. Thanks to a loan from friends and family that got him on his feet, he began distributing his liquid gold by slinging kegs off the back of a truck, bar-to-bar.

The Samuel Adams brands are now brewed in 30-plus styles and distributed internationally. Although the most popular brew is their Boston Lager, the company is also popular for their seasonals and specialty beers, such as the high priced Utopias, which contains 27% alcohol-by-volume and is aged over 16 years. Koch is proud of the fact that to this day his company remains independent. “It sure makes it a lot easier, that’s for sure,” he said.

But it was those early experiences that gave Koch empathy for entrepreneurs like Jim Woods of San Francisco, who received the first microloan from the Brewing the American Dream program’s craft brewing component and launched his MateVeza brand of organic beer, which includes his brainchild Yerba Mate Ale.

“Being a contract brewer, I was always in need of working capital…and after filling out all the paperwork electronically on the website I was really surprised to received my microloan of $10K only 5 days later,” said Woods. “I have really benefited from all the resources, support and guidance the program has offered me. They really want you to succeed and that is very attractive,” he added.

Woods is shipping a new release on August 15 called Morpho Herbal Ale, part of a new chapter in the lost art of unhopped ales called gruits that originated in the Middle Ages. Visit www.mateveza.com to learn more.

Some might say that it is counterproductive for someone in Koch’s position to fund other breweries. “Realistically, it is simply in keeping with the spirit of our other programs like Hop Sharing and LongShot,” said Koch.

If you’ve never tried the series of three yearly rotating homebrews in Boston Beer Company’s, LongShot Ales line, you are in for a treat. Every year three lucky homebrewers have their dreams come true after submitting their top recipes to be judged at the Great American Beer Festival and three winners are selected and brewed by Sam Adams.

With no real need to create a persuasive business case for generosity, Koch seems contented about his philanthropic commitments that support entrepreneurs to start and grow their small businesses.

“A social mission has been part of Boston Beer Company since the beginning and that’s not unusual or unique among the thousands of players in the craft beer community who are doing charitable works. As a whole we are excellent at connecting with our neighbors and our communities,” he said. “A rising tide lifts all boats. It is simply good karma.”

For more information about the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program, please visit www.samueladams.com/btad.