Revitalizing Historic Spaces With Barrister Brewing Co. LLC

There’s a building on the National Register of Historic Places in Westown Owosso that recently was vacant and functionally obsolete—until two couples saw an opportunity to try their hand at entrepreneurship and turned it into mixed-use development. The refurbished building is now seen by many as a hub for neighborhood revitalization and community connections. 

Barbara and Daniel Nees and Don and Melissa Hall converted the historic building into two second-floor market-rate apartments and a ground floor commercial tenant: Barrister Brewing Co., LLC, their new microbrewery bar and restaurant. 

Working With the SBDC

After reading a local newspaper article about the Michigan SBDC, Barbara sought out its assistance to secure funding for the project. The team worked remotely with their business consultant during COVID-19 for nearly one year to hone their business plan and to prepare their pitch. In the process, they also received letters of recommendation from two key vendors: Sovis Farms and Owosso Organics, whose influence contributed to Barrister Brewing Co. landing a Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development grant. That grant caught the attention of lending institutions, helped them secure a business loan and land additional grants, including the Michigan Community Revitalization Program performance-based grant, and a city of Owosso Main Street program grant. 

“We are incredibly grateful to the Michigan SBDC for the support they provided during a time when we couldn’t even work with them face to face,” said Barbara. “Since then, we’ve spent hours learning the ‘language of business’ and refining our business model with our consultants Harry Blecker and Emily Marrah.” 

The now-bustling bar and restaurant prides itself on its role as a connector in the community, sourcing local food ingredients and making items strictly from scratch. Local ingredients also are used to craft beer, ciders and seltzers. Finally, food waste is repurposed whenever possible, including spent grain to feed a local ostrich flock and fry oil converted to biodiesel.

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This project is being supported in whole or in part, by federal award number SLRFPO127 awarded to Economic Development Alliance of St. Clair County by the US Department of Treasury