Worcester County beverage businesses benefit from State VLT Loan Program

8/4/2016

Rosa Cruz

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Business Resources Small Business

Rosa Cruz is the director of marketing and communications for the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation. Follow AAEDC on Facebook and Twitter.

In late June, economic development officials in Worcester County and Anne Arundel County announced that Backshore Brewing Company and the Daily Brew Coffee Shop were the latest recipients of loans from the VOLT Fund. The fund is a state-wide business financing program managed by Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation (AAEDC) for the Maryland Department of Commerce.

"Backshore Brewing will be expanding their product line which will include a malted tea beverage," said Merry Mears, Director of Worcester County Economic Development (WCED). "This expansion will add more jobs to an already thriving business."

The Backshore Brewing Company Bar & Restaurant opened its doors at 913 Atlantic Avenue in Ocean City in the spring of 2013. Its owner Danny Robinson bought the vacated ice cream shop along the town's iconic boardwalk to build the nanobrewery. The company website says it crafts beer in small batches to have the "opportunity to experiment constantly with new flavors and styles."

For the Daily Brew Coffee Shop located on Washington Street in Snow Hill, the VOLT loan allows owner Lorissa McAllister to renovate the first floor of its downtown building. The development of the property comes at a time of revitalization for the community's commercial district. Mears says, "The Town of Snow Hill is now seeing a bit of resurgence in small businesses."

VOLT Fund loans range from $25,000 to $500,000 for purposes such as business and commercial real estate acquisition and expansion, lease-hold improvements, equipment, and working capital.

To qualify for VOLT loan funds, companies must employ fewer than 500 employees, and their annual revenues must average $35 million or less over three years.

Because funding for the VOLT Fund is generated by a portion of video lottery terminal (slots) revenue, half of the funds must be used within a 10-mile radius of Maryland's operating casinos, which includes Ocean Downs in Worcester County.