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Community Corner

Start-Up Brewery Supports Financial Education Program For Young Adults

Firefly Hollow Brewing, a Bristol-based craft beer company, will be January’s featured brewery at  MCC on Main’s  innovative money-management series for young adults, “Beer, Burgers & Managing Your Bucks.”

Capitalizing on Connecticut’s boom in handcrafted beer, the monthly evening series – which was launched in November – has been partnering with local breweries to provide a relaxed, fun venue for 20- and 30-somethings who want to network, sample some of Connecticut’s best microbrews and get a shot of practical money advice in the process.   

Dana Bourque, Firefly Hollow’s brewer and one of its three owners, is happy to be lending his company’s support to this nonconventional approach to financial literacy.  “Giving back is a key part our business,” he says.  Firefly Hollow itself got started last year through its own nonconventional approach:  it ran a campaign on Kickstarter – a web-based crowd-funding site – and succeeded in raising over $40,000 to pay its start-up costs.   “Part of the deal,” says Bourque, “was that we agreed to Pay it Forward.  That ‘s why, as our company grows, we are reinvesting every dollar we received from our Kickstarter campaign to other creative endeavors.”

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Marcie LaBelle, who is coordinating the financial education program at MCC on Main, was delighted when Firefly Hollow contacted her about participating.  “Before I got back to them, I read up on their business.    The guys who run it seem to typify the ideal entrepreneur:  creative, passionate, hardworking and successful … with a real desire to put something back into the community.”     

The next “Beer, Burgers & Managing Your Bucks” event will take place at 5:15 PM on Wednesday, January 8 at MCC on Main, 903 Main Street, Manchester.   The first half will be devoted to networking, beer sampling and enjoying sliders from a local burger bar.   The second half will feature a panel of industry experts offering guidance on buying a first house or condo.   Admission is $5 at the door.  For information call 860-647-6030 or visit www.manchestercc.edu/bucks

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