Bootstrap Montana Continues Interest-free Loan Awards with RoughStock Distillery

RoughStock Distillery http://www.montanawhiskey.com/RoughStock_Welcome.html , Montana’s first and only legal whiskey distillery using 100% local ingredients, recently received Bootstrap Montana’s third loan for 2009. Owned and operated by Bryan and Kari Schultz, RoughStock Distillery plans to use the funds to attend the Great American Distillers Festival in Portland, Oregon in hopes of attaining a larger customer base.

RoughStock Distillery whiskey is made from Montana-grown and malted barley, water from freshwater streams fed by mountain snowmelt, yeast, and time in a toasted and charred virgin oak barrel. All batches are made by hand, from grinding the grain to bottling the product, locally in Bozeman.

Please see attached Press Release for more information.

Thank you,

—
Morgan Rangel
MSU College of Business Intern
TechRanch
406.556.0272
http://www.techranch.org

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Bootstrap Montana Continues Interest-free Loan Awards with RoughStock Distillery

RoughStock Distillery, Montana’s first and only legal whiskey distillery using 100% local ingredients, recently received Bootstrap Montana’s third loan for 2009. Owned and operated by Bryan and Kari Schultz, RoughStock Distillery plans to use the funds to attend the Great American Distillers Festival in Portland, Oregon in hopes of attaining a larger customer base.

Kari Schultz, co-founder of RoughStock Distillery states "Bootstrap Montana http://www.bootstrapmontana.org is helping us grow our business by funding our attendance at the Great American Distiller’s Festival. The festival, to be held in October, will allow us to showcase our Montana Whiskey outside of the state of Montana to a group of people who will be excited about fine spirits, the craft of distilling, and ready and able to spread the word. By creating awareness outside of the state of Montana, we are expecting to be in at least 10 additional states by the start of 2010."

RoughStock Distillery whiskey is made from Montana-grown and malted barley, water from freshwater streams fed by mountain snowmelt, yeast, and time in a toasted and charred virgin oak barrel. All batches are made by hand, from grinding the grain to bottling the product, locally in Bozeman. Gary Bloomer, Director of Client Development at TechRanch says ―RoughStock is jumping into an emerging market of micro-distilleries which has an excellent opportunity to evolve in a similar manner to micro-breweries. Early market information indicates consumers are gravitating towards more niche brands and away from the mass produced products in many industries. The Bootstrap Montana loan committee approved funding of RoughStock in part because of the positive market trends and the relatively low production risk.

The Bootstrap Montana loan program creates jobs in rural Montana by providing Montana entrepreneurs with 0% interest loans for projects which will provide fast return on investment. Funds are targeted for projects that have a direct effect on increasing sales. The program increases the level of employment in the state, brings new sales revenue into the state, and increases the competitiveness of Montana companies.

2009 marks Bootstrap Montana’s second year of establishment, awarding 10 loans in 2008. The Bootstrap Montana loan program was seeded by Greg Gianforte, CEO of Bozeman-based RightNow Technologies and head of the Gianforte Family Charitable Trust in late 2007. The program seeks to loan funds to Montana entrepreneurs who embrace the business development philosophy of ‘bootstrapping’—or growing a company without the aid of outside (equity) investment capital.

Bootstrap Montana, http://www.bootstrapmontana.org, is an initiative created by the Gianforte Family Charitable Trust and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It is administered by Montana’s foremost not-for-profit business accelerator, TechRanch. 0% interest loans are available to small Montana businesses through the program, as well as the opportunity to attend the seminars. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.