Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Introduces New "Pitch Room" Contest for Small Business Owners and Hosts Small Business Mentoring Session in New York City

NEW YORK, Nov. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Samuel Adams today announced that it will host its small business speed coaching and national "Pitch Room" competition in New York City.  Designed to provide high-impact advice and personalized mentoring, the events are part of Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, a micro-lending and mentoring program for small business owners working in food, beverage, craft brewing and hospitality.

Speed coaching will take place on Monday, November 11^th from 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. EST at The Dumbo Loft in Brooklyn (155 Water St).  Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in up to six 20-minute personalized coaching sessions with experts from Sam Adams, including brewer and founder Jim Koch, as well as microlender Accion and New York area business experts.

Coaches will offer a range of expertise in graphic design, finance, e-commerce, ingredients sourcing, marketing and more, and participants are encouraged to come prepared with specific questions about challenges their businesses are facing.  Admission is free, but registration is required at: https://samueladamsbtadny.eventbrite.com/.

Pitch Room Competition
Speed coaching immediately follows the Brewing the American Dream "Pitch Room," a competition that ultimately helps participants hone and perfect the art of the sales pitch to potential retail customers. Food and beverage small business owners – including other craft brewers – will work with Sam Adams employees and retailers to present and improve their sales pitches. 

The judging panel will include Jim Koch, as well as David Burke, American chef and restaurateur; Frank Sickelsmith, vice president of HMSHost Corporation; Michael Conese, vice president of Center Store Merchandising at Fairway Market; and Gina Harman, CEO of Accion U.S. Network. The winner, determined by criteria that include pitch quality, creativity and passion, as well as product viability, will receive a trip for two to Boston to participate in the finals where he or she will compete for a $10,000 business grant, extended mentoring from Sam Adams, and the opportunity to pitch his or her product to national retail establishments.

The event, which will also be held at The Dumbo Loft, takes place from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. EST. To learn more visit http://bit.ly/pitchroom.

Brewing Dreams in New York City
In addition to providing coaching and mentoring, Brewing the American Dream is also impacting New York-area small businesses through its micro financing. In partnership with Accion, the nation's largest non-profit microlender, Samuel Adams has provided loans to more than 55 small businesses in the New York metro area, including:

• Brewla Bars – Sibling founders Daniel and Rebecca Dengrove saw an opportunity to fuse the popular trends of frozen yogurt and fresh juices to create Brewla Bars, healthy popsicle-like snacks with unique tastes such as tea, root beer and coffee. As popularity and buyer interest grew, the Dengroves turned to Brewing the American Dream in 2012 for a loan to finance expanded packaging to help grow their business. Today Brewla Bars can be found in stores throughout the country, and last summer Brewla released its limited edition Samuel Adams Hops Pops. http://www.brewlabars.com
• Adelina's – A year ago owner Tobia Buggiani opened Adelina's, an Italian-inspired restaurant and wine bar in Greenport, Brooklyn. Adelina's initial success, driven by its specialty pizzas and pastas, led Buggiani to Brewing the American Dream where he received a loan to expand his operation to serve at gourmet street fairs and assist with new marketing efforts. http://www.adelinasbk.com.  

Inspiration and Impact
Samuel Adams brewer and founder, Jim Koch, created the Brewing the American Dream program in 2008 to help small businesses overcome the same obstacles he faced when starting Sam Adams in his kitchen. 

"Thirty years ago the banks wouldn't lend me money, and I didn't know how to do the important things like set up a payroll or make a sales call," Koch said. "With the Brewing the American Dream program, we're able to help fellow small business owners overcome these obstacles through micro-lending and real-world business advice that's critical for success."

Since the program launched, Brewing the American Dream, in partnership with nonprofit microlender Accion, has provided more than $2.5 million in microloans to more than 285 small businesses nationwide, coached 3,000-plus professionals, and created or retained upwards of 1,800 jobs.

"Accion's work has always been about supporting entrepreneurs with two very important things: access to capital and great business advice," said Paul Quintero, CEO of Accion East. "Accion lends the funds that are provided by Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream to fuel the activity of food and beverage businesses.  Accion and Samuel Adams also provide the advice that is the strategic motor that propels the businesses forward. What's resulted through this unique combination of critical capital and business know-how is the opportunity for small business owners to realize their big dreams."

For more information about the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream program, please visit http://btad.samueladams.com/.

Samuel Adams, Sam Adams, Samuel Adams Boston Lager, and Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream are registered trademarks of The Boston Beer Company.

About The Boston Beer Company
The Boston Beer Company began in 1984 with a generations-old family recipe that Founder and Brewer Jim Koch uncovered in his father's attic. Inspired and unafraid to challenge conventional thinking about beer, Jim brought the recipe to life in his kitchen.  Pleased with the results of his work, Jim decided to sample his beer with bars in Boston in the hopes that drinkers would appreciate the complex, full-flavored beer he brewed fresh in America.  That beer was aptly named Samuel Adams Boston Lager, in recognition of one of our nation's great founding fathers, a man of independent mind and spirit.  Little did Jim know at the time, Samuel Adams Boston Lager soon became a catalyst of the American craft beer revolution.

Today, The Boston Beer Company brews more than 50 styles of beer.  It relentlessly pursues the development of new styles and the perfection of classic beers by searching the world for the finest ingredients.  Using the traditional four vessel brewing process, the Company often takes extra steps like dry-hopping, barrel-aging and a secondary fermentation known as krausening.  The Company has also pioneered another revolution, the 'extreme beer' movement, where it seeks to challenge drinker's perceptions of what beer can be. The Boston Beer Company has been committed to elevating the image of American craft beer by entering festivals and competitions around the globe, and in the past five years has won more awards in international beer competitions than any other brewery in the world. As an independent company, brewing quality beer remains its single focus. Although Samuel Adams® beer is America's largest-selling craft beer, it accounts for only one percent of the U.S. beer market.  The Boston Beer Company will continue its independently-minded quest to brew great beer and to advocate for the growth of craft beer across America. For more information, please visit www.samueladams.com.

About Accion
In seeking a partner for Samuel Adams' Brewing the American Dream, The Boston Beer Company turned to Accion to facilitate lending to hardworking business owners seeking to grow. As the largest nationwide micro- and small business lending network in the United States, we connect small business owners with the accessible financing and advice it takes to create or grow healthy businesses. Accion East and Online lends in New York and offers business loans between $500 and $50,000 along with training, networking and other support services to hardworking entrepreneurs. Accion East and Online has lent over $153 million to date.

Since 1991, the five members of the Accion U.S. Network have collectively made over 47,700 loans, totaling over $380 million. Additionally, over 400,000 business owners across the nation have turned to Accion for financial and business advice via workshops, online tools, and one-on-one consultations. Globally, Accion (www.accion.org) is a pioneer in microfinance, reaching millions of individuals through its international network of partners. For more information visit us.accion.org.

SOURCE Samuel Adams