Bear Republic Brewing named SBA Small Business of the Year

The Cloverdale-based brewery, named 'Small Business of the Year' for Northern California, employs more than 150 people and is the 39th largest craft brewer in the country.|
BILL SWINDELL
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Cloverdale-based Bear Republic Brewing Co. has been named the 2015 Small Business of the Year for Northern California by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The agency's San Francisco office will honor the brewery, founded by the Norgrove family in 1997, at a private ceremony on May 8.

The family used their own savings to start the business, but encountered difficulty after being turned down by several banks. The company later was later able to get a $250,000 loan through a lender as part of the SBA's guaranty loan program.

In 2006, First Community Bank and Bay Area Development Co. worked together to provide a special loan to Bear Republic to buy part of an industrial office space in Cloverdale, which later became part of its new brewing facility. It employs more than 150 people and is the 39th largest craft brewer in the country.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.
Send a letter to the editor