Moustache Brewing one of 10 finalists competing for $25k
After over 5,000 companies applied for a small business grant from FedEx, Polish Town’s Moustache Brewing Co. is one of 100 companies left competing for a $25,000 grand prize.
The craft brewery, which just started serving growlers about a month ago at the Riverhead Farmers Market, is one of eight New York businesses left competing for the grant funding. FedEx announced the finalists on Wednesday.
FedEx is offering prizes to the top 10 businesses, with five businesses getting $1,000, four more businesses getting $5,000, and the top small businesses getting the grand prize. The winner of last year’s competition was Maine-based Darn Good Yarn, a small business founded in 2008.
The final 100 contributors were determined through a combination of social media voting and the businesses’ profiles on the FedEx website, which feature some information about them as well as what they would do if they got the cash. Now the final 100 will be narrowed down after answering one of three questions in an essay format.
Final winners will be selected based on their essay answers as well as social media voting and their profiles. The top 10 small businesses—including the grand prize winner—will be announced on March 24.
“If we receive the grant we will use the money to purchase larger fermenter which will allow us do 7 times the volume we are able to do now,” Moustache co-owners Lauri and Matt Spitz wrote on their profile.
The company got a lift to start off its business when they raised over $31,000 through a Kickstarter campaign in 2012. Since then, the couple renovated a space on Hallett Avenue to host a 1-barrel brewing system.
Moustache offers a rye ale, porter, and a pair of different pale ale options.
If it wins, the brewery wouldn’t be the first business from the area to earn cash through a corporate grant: Greenport’s Rollin’ in Dough, a pizza truck that travels the East End, was one of 10 businesses to receive a $250,000 grant through JPMorgan. With the cash, owner Matt Michel said he plans to open a brick-and-mortar storefront in Greenport.
