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Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy Honors The Boston Beer Co
6/3/2010(Portland, Oregon) - NEW YORK —Today, the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP) presents its prestigious Founder's Award at the 10th Annual Excellence Awards in Corporate Philanthropy to The Boston Beer Co.
Two years ago, Samuel Adams Founder and Brewer Jim Koch introduced the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program, an initiative dedicated to aiding low to moderate income small business owners in the food and beverage industry. The program is being recognized for its commitment to helping entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.
Actor Paul Newman and other business leaders founded CECP in 1999. The organization's Excellence Awards in Corporate Philanthropy are among the most coveted awards in the corporate giving community, drawing an extraordinary pool of nominees each year. These awards are presented annually to companies demonstrating outstanding leadership in corporate philanthropy. The Founder's Award recognizes a corporation with revenues less than $5 billion that has exhibited outstanding leadership in its category, demonstrated a commitment to innovation, and set benchmarks for measuring the outcomes of its partnerships.
This year's award recognizes The Boston Beer Co. and honors the company's commitment to helping entrepreneurial-minded individuals make their mark in the food and beverage business. Driven by Jim Koch's commitment to sharing with and engaging other entrepreneurial small business owners, The Boston Beer Co. created a partnership with ACCION USA, a pioneering nonprofit micro-lending organization, to establish the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program. This program, now celebrating its second anniversary, provides small business owners in the food and beverage industry with the tools they need to help them become financially independent, including access to capital. Senior management and employees from The Boston Beer Co. host events and share their expertise and insights to provide these entrepreneurs with mentoring and coaching, while ACCION USA provides financial education and manages the loan program funded by The Boston Beer Co.
"When I started The Boston Beer Company I couldn't get a bank loan or find capital, plus there was so much I didn't know about starting a small business," said Koch. "As the company grew and became more successful, we naturally identified with other 'little guys' who benefited from a leg up to help achieve their dreams. It became important to me to find a way to give back to other start-ups like mine and create opportunities for them to get funding and advice. I know how useful that would have been in starting Samuel Adams 25 years ago.
"It is rewarding to know that through Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, we are helping the financially underserved food and beverage entrepreneur community to achieve success. This Award is particularly gratifying as it honors the significant contributions of the hard working employees of The Boston Beer Co. and their commitment to helping others succeed," added Koch.
The Boston Beer Co. made an initial investment of $250,000 in June 2008 to create the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Loan Fund at ACCION USA to provide micro-loans to small business owners. Most of these loans range from $5,000 to $10,000. Typically, many of the small businesses receiving funding would be unable to secure bank loans or other means of traditional financing.
Since its inception two years ago, Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream has provided loans to more than 40 businesses and has helped create or save nearly 300 jobs in New England. Through Speed Coaching and Business Literacy Workshops made available through the program, nearly 500 businesses have had access to free advice and guidance from experts at The Boston Beer Company and ACCION USA.
Copyright PRNewswire 2010