The brewer has enlisted the Rising Tide Loan Fund to help small businesses in the Lehigh Valley.
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Samuel Adams launched its program for Lehigh Valley small businesses in 2011.
A program aimed at assisting small businesses in the food, beverage and hospitality industry is partnering with a local lender to bring more funding opportunities to the businesses.
Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream is a program launched in 2011 in the Lehigh Valley by the Boston Beer Co., which owns and operates a brewery in Upper Macungie Township. The program provides mentoring and microloans to business owners who are having difficulty getting funding from traditional banks.
Since its inception, the program has partnered with Accion, a national network of lenders that provides microloans, but the Boston Beer Co. wanted to find a local lender to become a supplemental partner.
On Monday, the brewer announced a new partnership with the Rising Tide Community Loan Fund, which is based in Bethlehem. According to a news release, the brewer said it’s had success with local lenders such as Rising Tide in the New England markets where Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream programs have been launched.
Established in 2001, the Rising Tide service area is limited to Lehigh and Northampton counties. It’s a subsidiary of the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley Inc. CACLV officials previously expressed dismay that Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream hadn’t reached out to Rising Tide before launching the program, given the Rising Tide’s track record with microloans.
Jim Koch, Boston Beer Co. founder, said in a statement that the new partnership with Rising Tide strengthens the program’s ability to give loans and also brings an extra level of expertise to the program.
The program loans range from $500 to $25,000 and are used for a variety of business purposes including expansion, equipment and marketing.
Additionally, Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream also offers mentoring such as speed-coaching events where Samuel Adams management sits down with small business owners for one-on-one sessions about their businesses.