Politics & Government
White House Showcases Alexandria's Port City Brewing
The Obama administration turns the spotlight on Port City as an example of how the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act helps small businesses.
Bill Butcher, owner of stars in a White House video explaining the difficulties in getting financing to get his business started but how a local bank aware of new government loan programs came to his aid.
In the video "Faces of Change: Bill's Small Business Loan," Butcher said he spoke with 10 banks a few years ago and found it "discouraging." The bank that finally wanted to "work with us" was a local bank aware of Small Business Administration loans "that really helped us a lot" and "saved us thousands of dollars," he said.
The bank was aware of new programs the administration put in because of the Recovery Act, Butcher said, adding that his business is now growing as is his distributor's business.
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The connection between small businesses and the middle class are one and the same, Butcher said in the video. "The money that is spent on small businesses stays in the local community."
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