“The timing of Jim Bowman coming aboard Driftless Development (then Crawford Economic Development) was serendipitous for Driftless Brewing Company, LLC. Other than a CDC loan from our Village, we’d been largely working alone as a business with our bank and WBD/SBA and still needed to raise additional funding for our loan package match for our 15 BBL expansion. We hit the ground running with Jim who quickly helped us apply for both a MRRPC $100,000 loan and a WEDC CDI $125,000 grant via the Village of Soldiers Grove. These, along with our investor funding, helped to meet the budget goals set by the bank/SBA for the expansion. We would not have moved forward without these last sources of funding. As someone who was working two other jobs while coordinating this funding drive for the brewery expansion, I felt greatly supported by Jim as a sounding board during the process and an advocate for us with funding partners.”
“I personally have also worked with him at Driftless Development on a trade study for the region and have referred many other new business entrepreneurs to him in our area. I consider Jim a good friend and partner in our community project—as our business will likely be a catalyst for economic growth in our small village of Soldiers Grove and beyond and he understood this from our first meeting. Thank you, Jim!”
