Federal Boost Helps Peabody Brewery Weather Coronavirus Impact

PEABODY, MA — Some long-awaited help finally arrived for dozens of North Shore bars and restaurants that had struggled through the punishing coronavirus health crisis restrictions for more than a year when Restaurant Revitalization Fund grants were released late in the spring.

For Granite Coast Brewing Company co-owner and head brewer Jeff Marquis and his taproom crew, that means the chance to start looking forward with at least some cautious optimism instead of constantly looking back at the tremendous toll the spring 2020 shutdown, and year of capacity limits and ever-evolving food and service protocols took on a business that was just finding its footing in Peabody when the pandemic hit.

"For the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic we had to rely on what we earned from loyal customer support and a small grant from the city of Peabody," Marquis told Patch, noting the brewery was not eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program or the Economic Injury Disaster Loans. "The (Small Business Administration) grant has allowed us to come out of lockdown with less debt, but people are still not readily going out and things are far from back to normal."

According to the SBA, Granite Coast was one of 16 Peabody establishments that received part of $6.36 million awarded to city bars and restaurants. Across the state, nearly $1 billion in aid was given to one of the industries hardest hit over the past 16 months.

The Peabody grants ranged from $24,373.25 to $2,954,496.00. Granite Coast received $97,587.12 as part of what Marquis said was a specific SBA formula based on 2019 and 2020 debts and sales.

"The SBA had a very clear-cut process for going through the application and all monetary determinations were made through their website," he told Patch. "The website calculated the amounts provided — and which were double-checked by the SBA during approval — and funds were provided based on the differences between 2019 and 2020.

"We had no ability to ask for more or less."

Marquis said that while Granite Coast was able to stay open first for takeout beer service, and later for on-site consumption with the help of an outdoor patio and a rotating fleet of food trucks to satisfy the state's food requirement to order alcohol, the pandemic put the taproom in a state of perpetual survival mode — similar to most other bars and restaurants — instead of allowing the type of progress owners envisioned at the start of 2020 following their opening on Memorial Day weekend 2019.

"We carried a large debt load into the opening of our business," he said. "We had started paying it off and then COVID shut us down and we were no longer able to continue paying off those debts. Most of these debts were toward trades or other companies that had agreed to carry final payments into our opening.

"We will be using the vast majority of our SBA allocation to lower our debt ceiling tremendously, hopefully putting us into the best possible position as the state slowly returns to normal."

He said funds will also be used to upgrade the patio for three-season use, but that they are not allowed to use them for improvements in the brewing aspect of the business.

"So, we will continue to look for other avenues to move our brewing process forward," he said.

When all state business restrictions were lifted on May 29, Granite Coast took a measured approach to full reopening. Those who worked and served at the brewery continued to wear masks for two more weeks to help customers ease into the relaxed rules, while owners continued to limit seating capacity and standing bar service.

Over the next few weeks, however, the taproom will be moving tables closer together and bringing back six barstools. Some of the table games will return, with customers encouraged to bring their own.

Dogs will also be allowed back in the taproom as long as they are leashed.

Owners Rob Dunn and Marquis said in a social media message on Monday that 100 percent of the staff is vaccinated.

Customers are staff are encouraged to wear face masks if that makes them more comfortable, but they will remain optional for all vaccinated customers and strongly encouraged for non-vaccinated customers.

"We hope these adjustments will help us adjust mentally while maintaining safety," Dunn and Marquis said in the announcement.

Yet, while the grant funding and eased restrictions provide some reassurance of a safety net, Marquis said bars, restaurants and other small businesses still face a lot of uncertainty ahead as fluctuating virus rates threaten to affect customer behavior.

"Every business owner I know is still worried about the future and what the next six to 12 months will bring," he told Patch, "And not many people are talking about it. And I don't understand why.

"We are far from out of the shadow that COVID-19 has hung over the world."

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)

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