Sam Adams has been my beer of choice lately, at least for the month of October. The minute the cool lager of the Boston Beer Company hits your lips, you know it is start of something beautiful – and I’m not talking about the beverage. I’m talking about the Sam Adam/Boston Beer Company’s micro-loan fund called Brewing the American Dream. In partnership with Accion USA, the largest microfinance movement in the nation, Sam Adams has advised over 150 food, beverage, and hospitality entrepreneurs. It has hosted dozens of speed coaching events and provided $250,000 in loans and 210 jobs to the small business community.

And the next round is on the house. For the month of October, for every case of Boston Lager purchased in the state of Massachusetts or Rhode Island, Sam Adams will donate 25 cents to their Brewing the American Dream Fund. Additionally, the six largest distributors of the Boston brew will match each donation with another 25 cents. It doesn’t seem like a lot on paper, but there is already has proof that it adds up. Earlier this year, Sam Adams announced that it would give a donation for every keg of Boston Brick Red sold in Boston and so far, this has netted Accion USA over $10,000.

Their public efforts to support the small business community come at a particularly poignant time for those weathering this bleak economy. It is hard to completely understand the thickly woven layers of fabric that comprise a small business because there are so many faces and families involved. There is a level of humanity that you can’t find anywhere else. And it is impossible to know what “realizing a dream” feels like unless you have been there yourself, putting all your sweat and soul into a single endeavor. Since the start of the recession in 2007, these dreams and realizations have been disappearing at an alarming rate. In their wake, they leave a foul taste of disappointment and disillusionment – one that cannot be easily erased by drowning your sorrows in the bottom of a pint glass.

Yet maybe – with the help of Sam Adams – it can. Jim Koch, owner of the Boston Beer Company, founded Brewing the American Dream in the crucial hour of June 2008. When others were giving up on small business (and continue to do so), he is giving them hope. It is the same hope he started with in 1984 when he brewed the first batch of Sam Adams.

Through small business loans, seminars, and coaching, Sam Adams is slowly manifesting itself into a kind of hybrid company that I have been plotting as my great entrepreneurial debut for some time: an MBB or Micro Brew and Bank. I worked at a microbrewery for six months, so I know the drill of having to bring out the beer sampler and explain every type of our specialty beers from light to dark. It has always been my dream that in addition to satisfying their thirst, people could satisfy their social conscious at the same time. For example, each specialty beer could coincide with a specialty charity (complete with creative brew name) and depending on the beer you purchased, a portion of your money would go into the microloan bank for that charity. So what do you say Sam Adams? Are you in?

For those of you living in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, here is a list of locations where you can drink up next week to add your 25 cents. If you want to support Sam Adams and Accion USA and you live outside of these two states, you can also do the following:

-       become of a Facebook fan of Accion USA

-       write on their wall and explain why you support small business

Every week, Sam Adams picks two names to receive free apparel and a pint glass. Cheers to that!

The Same Adams Brewing the American Dream Fund is a philanthropic program that provides financial support and services to low and moderate income entrepreneurs in the food and beverage industry.

• Organization Type: For-Profit
• Website: http://www.samueladams.com/company.aspx
• Founder(s): Jim Koch
• Founded: 1984
• Location: Boston, MA
• See complete company list here

Contributor Profile: Ashley

Ashley is a friend of anyone who is fighting the good fight for social change. She currently resides in Bilbao, Spain where she is teaching English and researching the history of the Basque conflict. Personal blog
Twitter: @socialearth

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