An Appalachian nonprofit is getting creative to help tastemakers start and grow their boozy businesses.
The Progress Fund’s new Craft Beverage Fund connects West Virginia and Pennsylvania brewers, distillers and winemakers with the financing they need to grow.
“Drink crafters are community anchors,” said David Kahley, President & CEO of The Progress Fund. “We think they play an important role the neighborhoods we’re already working to build, so we can be a lot more flexible for them than a traditional bank or lender.”
Both the alcohol and banking industries are tightly regulated, but as a nonprofit, The Progress Fund plays by different rules. And they have a 20-year track record of reinventing traditional lending for businesses in the region that add value to their communities. They can craft unique (and even a little offbeat) financing terms that allow tastemakers to invest more into quality or take risks on fresher, bolder ideas.
Other small businesses can also qualify for the Craft Beverage Fund if they bring something unique to the local craft beverage scene, like specialty bar-restaurants, or even more traditional businesses that find innovative ways to draw in the craft drinking crowd.
“We’re on board with booze-driven ideas, as long as they make sober sense,” Kahley said.
