John Hickenlooper hosted a virtual conversation from Denver Beer Company with breweries across the state to discuss the need to support small businesses in our recovery from COVID-19. Representatives from Denver Beer Co, Atrevida Brewing, Weldwerks Greeley, Carver Brewing Company, and Spangalang Brewery shared updates from their regions of the state with John and talked about what breweries and other small businesses need to weather the pandemic. The brewers agreed that more support for small businesses is needed, and that Washington needs a leader like John Hickenlooper to bring people together to get things done and support small businesses.
“The Senate has left our small businesses behind by failing to pass a new relief bill, and Colorado’s workers and families are paying the price,” said John Hickenlooper. “We need to listen to community leaders as we work to rebuild the economy or we risk losing many of the local businesses that make our communities feel like home. I promise to take the fight to Washington and work on behalf of Colorado’s families and small businesses.”
“My concern is for the industry, for small businesses, especially minority businesses,” said Rich Fierro, co-owner of Atrevida Brewing in Colorado Springs. “We tend to start with zero capital. We tend to start with no loans. So all that debt service is not there for us when we have a crisis like this and we end up with nothing. So the hard transition of, I got my PPP, that’s great, but in 4-6 months, I think we’re going to see a lot of challenges when folks run out of that money and for the last 6 months, we’ve still been running at 50%. So those are the reasons we need some real leadership to kind of push people to start talking instead of pandering to their constituencies.”
“We’ve gotten some assistance, and that’s been good, but I think more assistance is going to be necessary if we really want to keep businesses afloat,” said Darren Boyd, owner of Spangalang Brewery in Denver. “It’s been hard fitting our assistance to what our true needs are.”
“Six restaurants just threw in the towel because they don’t see life after the PPP loan expiration, so they’re looking for another lifeline as everybody on this call is,” said Bill Carver, owner of Carver Brewing Company in Durango. “So we need action and I know with your track record, you would be in there getting some action done, being able to get things through the impasse.”
“Small businesses are the heart and soul of our country and this is where we get to be creative,” said Neil Fisher, owner of Weldwerks in Greeley. “This is where we get to build something from the ground up and take risks and that is what this country’s great for and we don’t need politics to put anything at risk that we’ve all worked so hard to build. We need leadership and we need people working together.”
Hickenlooper recently released his campaign’s economic recovery plan focused on growth that is immediate, inclusive, integrated, and innovative to get our country back on track after COVID-19. Hickenlooper started the first brewpub in the Rocky Mountains and has spent his time in public service standing up for Colorado’s small businesses. As Governor, he took Colorado from 40th in job creation to the number one economy in the country.
