We published a My ArundelBiz Podcast episode on a Saturday for a VERY special reason:

2023 is AAEDC’s 10th year of managing the VOLT Fund – a casino revenue-funded program that assists small, minority-owned, woman-owned, and Veteran-owned businesses in Maryland by offering them loans from $25,000 to $500,000 – on behalf of the Maryland Department of Commerce, and April just so happens to be the month when we received our first VOLT Fund funds (on April 17, 2013 to be precise).

With that in mind, we’ll be celebrating the occasion by featuring ten of the 135 total business owners (and counting!) who have received a total of nearly $17,000,000 in VOLT Fund loans from AAEDC.

We sat down with our first VOLT Fund 10-Year Anniversary Series guest, Forward Brewing founder Cam Bowdren, to discuss:

• How he and his wife, Claire, went from being craft beer-loving Annapolitans to craft beer-brewing business owners – including the role of the Brewers Association of Maryland and, of course, a VOLT Fund loan.
• Some of the highlights of Forward’s first three years, from hosting running and biking groups to putting New Roots Farm pork on its menu and forging many philanthropic partnerships.
• Some of what he’s looking FORWARD to in 2023, from celebrating Forward’s three-year anniversary in May to seeing Forward’s logo on Annapolis Blues FC jerseys in June.
• PLUS some of his favorite places to visit in Anne Arundel County and some of his top tips for business owners.

So tune in to learn more about Anne Arundel County’s newest brewing business and how a loan from AAEDC helped it get going!