Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Names Winner of the National Pitch Room Competition

BOSTON, Dec. 11, 2013 /mbb/ — Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream, a microlending and mentoring program for food, beverage, craft beer, and hospitality small businesses, announced that Brewla Bars has won the program’s 2013 national Pitch Room competition. Founded by siblings Daniel and Rebecca Dengrove, Brewla Bars are healthy, popsicle-like treats based on brewed ingredients such as tea, root beer and coffee.

The Pitch Room competition, introduced this year as a new component of the Brewing the American Dream program, helps small business owners perfect the art of the sales pitch and is another way the program is extending its focus on coaching and mentoring.

On Monday, six finalists from regional Pitch Room competitions across the country traveled to the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery to present their best two-minute sales pitch before a panel of business experts and retail buyers. The judges provided feedback and advice to each participant before ultimately selecting Brewla Bars as the national Pitch Room winner. They evaluated each business and pitch using specific criteria, including quality, creativity, passion, and product viability. 

The final competition panel of judges included:

"All of the small business owners in the Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room did a great job and had really interesting, quality products," said Jim Koch. "Daniel and Rebecca Dengrove were able to set themselves apart with a strong pitch, smart packaging, and the ability to convey how Brewla Bars appeal to a wide range of consumers.  Their passion was evident right from the start, and they successfully demonstrated their business story.  That’s really what we were looking for."

Koch noted that Brewla Bars will receive a $10,000 business grant, extended mentoring and support from Samuel Adams including a series of in-depth business coaching sessions.  As the Pitch Room’s 2013 "People’s Choice," winner Luca & Bosco will also receive a coaching package from Samuel Adams based on their specific business needs.

"We’re incredibly excited to win the Pitch Room," said the Dengroves. "We’ve already received feedback that’s helped improve our sales pitch, and we can’t wait to start the business coaching and mentoring with the folks at Sam Adams. They have such a passion for helping small businesses and so much knowledge that we really feel our work with the team could be transformative for our business."

Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream
Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream was launched in 2008, in partnership with non-profit microlender and small business expert Accion, and has provided more than $2.6 million in loans to nearly 300 small businesses nationwide, coached 3,000-plus small business owners, and created or retained upwards of 1,800 jobs.

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

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