Beer, Pita Chips, and Burritos?
Jim Koch (right), founder of The Boston Beer Company, can relate to the struggles of a small business owner. At yesterday's Brewing the American Dream U, he offered advice and expertise to over 150 local entrepreneurs.
Yesterday afternoon, the streets of Boston were damp and a bit dreary. But indoors, things were bright: teachers dispensed knowledge, students absorbed every word, and both listened and learned from each others’ experiences. But this scene’s setting wasn’t the halls of Harvard or MIT. Rather, it was the second-floor ballroom of the Park Plaza Hotel, where ACCION USA and The Boston Beer Company presented the inaugural Brewing the American Dream U: a free, half-day event for entrepreneurs in the food, beverage, and hospitality industries to receive expertise from leading local business owners.
Over 150 entrepreneurs attended. For four hours, they listened as fifteen experts shared advice and fielded questions on topics including “What I Learned on My Way to the Kitchen” and “Getting Your Product Ready for Retail.” The advice was timely, inspirational, and most importantly, honest.
Jim Koch, founder of The Boston Beer Company, discussed the salesman’s mentality (every time he walked into a bar, he had only a few seconds to determine why the people sitting at the counter should drink his beer and why the person behind the counter should sell it). Stacy Madison, founder of Stacy’s Pita Chips, explained the importance of targeted marketing strategies (it’s like a fire hose: you have to focus your efforts, not just spray aimlessly). And John Pepper, founder of Boloco, emphasized the necessity of resilience (he pitched his business to 39 investors before he heard the word “yes”).
The event was an important step in strengthening the Boston Beer Company-ACCION USA partnership – appropriately named Brewing the American Dream – which launched in 2008. In the past two years, the program has provided loans to small business owners in Massachusetts and, in doing so, saved or created 282 jobs.
The partnership not only involves loans but, more so, financial education and “speed coaching” events designed to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge they need to build their businesses. Together, these programs support entrepreneurs and prepare them for the many challenges of business ownership. And judging by an e-mail we received from an event participant this morning, these efforts are working:
“I just wanted to let you know how awesome yesterday was. I was amazed at how eager and enthusiastic all the panel members, Sam Adams, and ACCION were to lend a hand to micro entrepreneurs. It was truly inspiring and empowering. As a member of the food industry, I have many friends and colleagues with big dreams of starting their own venture and I’m certain they are not aware of these incredible resources available to them. I am excited to spread the word, and to seriously consider pursuing my dream as well.”
Help “brew” this entrepreneur’s dream by donating here.
Tags: accion usa, boloco, Boston, entrepreneur, Financial Education, jim koch, Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, small business, stacy's pita chips
Reverse Remittances and U.S. Microfinance
When I interview ACCION USA clients to gather information for their Kiva profiles, they nearly always mention having a family member in another country relying on them to send small portions of their income, or “remittances,” back home. That’s why this week’s New York Times article on “reverse remittances” struck a chord with me. The article explains how families abroad are now having to send monetary support to their family members in the U.S. While immigrants originally came here to search for better economic opportunities, nowadays they are finding the opposite.
Is returning to their home countries an option? For some, it is – but it’s not that easy. It may take immense effort and sacrifice to scrape together the thousands of dollars needed to move to a new country. Many immigrants who come to the U.S. give up their homes and possessions in their native country and trade them in for an entirely new life. They may have married and had children who would be disrupted by a move to another country they barely know.
Immigrants are a vital part of our economy – in New York, for example, over the last decade, immigrant-dominated neighborhoods such as Washington Heights and Sunset Park have seen increases in new firms at rates close to 50%, and job growth of 30% (compared to overall city job growth of 7%).1 Entrepreneurship is an engine of employment, as small businesses provide self-employment for the business owner and are responsible for 75% of net new job creation in the U.S.2
Now, more than ever, small business ownership is a way for immigrants to take control of their economic future and take the initiative to provide employment opportunities for themselves and others in their communities. As unemployment grows in the U.S., ACCION USA’s mission to support these entrepreneurs and, by extension, the economic development of their communities, gains more urgency.
1A World of Opportunity, Center for an Urban Future. February 2007.
2MicroTest Outcomes 2008. The Aspen Institute – FIELD Program
Who Is Lucy Valena and Why Does She Rock Our Socks Off?
It seems like everybody’s talking about Lucy Valena these days.
And I’m no exception.
Lucy Valena started making a splash right away when we met her in September 2008. From the start, each AUSAer she spoke with felt her (caffeinated?) energy/excitement and recognized her determination, especially as she moved quickly through the loan process. Our $4,000 loan allowed her to purchase the equipment to launch her mobile espresso catering business, Voltage Coffee, an idea brewed from her barista days in Seattle and lifelong love of espresso.
Right after her business opened and the foam started flowing, the notes in our internal communication system show something different than your daily roast variety of comment strings. In December, Sherri, one of our illustrious loan officers, called to congratulate Lucy on the article about Voltage Coffee in the Boston Globe. Most recently the Boston lending team gathered around a computer screen to watch Lucy in a nationally televised CNN clip.
One Small Business Loan Disbursed, 27.2 Million to Go
Risa Sherman, a consultant for Samuel Adams/ the Boston Beer Co., our delicious corporate partner for Brewing the American Dream, hit the bull’s eye in her post about Lucy’s success:
Lucy is an example of the amazing spirit of small business heroes who put it all on the line every day in dedication to their craft. She is representative of the many independent, small business owners who are the faces of Main Street America. Her business and her life are so inextricably intertwined – the success of one is synonymous with the stability of the other. ~ Risa Sherman on Causenation.com
This is evident from Lucy’s own words, given in a speech just last year:
This summer, the time I wasn’t working my day job or sleeping was mostly divided between writing my business plan and research and development. I crunched numbers, wrote and rewrote until my ideas made sense, and conducted experiments with espresso and an assortment of random ingredients in hopes of finding tasty combinations. When my business plan was finally finished, I went to the SBA and met with a representative from SCORE to discuss what I should do next. I needed a loan, but because of my age I am not exactly the first person an average bank would hand cash to, even back in August. The business councilor at the SBA literally read my entire business plan cover to cover (while I squirmed in my seat), and afterwards suggested ACCION as a good place to start. (Read the full speech on Risa’s blog)
Lucy’s struggles and successes stand as one story that gets repeated every day through out the US since 27.2 million people run their own small business (SCORE) If you know somebody running a business or looking to start one, let them know about us! You never know if your favorite coffee shop’s bank just increased their minimum credit score by 50 points.
p.s. This is just cool: The Latte Zoo (Thanks Boston Food Monkey!)
Tags: CNN, coffee, entrepreneur, Sam Adams, small business