On August 11 the Machias board of select-people voted to accept the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) awarded for the construction of Bad Little Brewing Company at 101 Court Street. The grant will be distributed in installments to Kathryn Toppan and Sean Lent, owners of Bad Little Brewing Company.
      The vote was a formality but it drew attention, both in the form of support and criticism, from local residents about the town accepting the grant funding.
      CDBGs have been awarded to 313 projects in Washington County since the program's inception in 1982. Machias has accepted these grants 21 times. Toppan secured $180,000 in grant funding during this last round for her private business. That's only a small percentage of the amount the town has accepted in the past and a number that pales in comparison to grants that areas like Eastport and Calais get almost every year - lending credence to a notion Toppan mentioned - that a lack of projects means Machias residents may be leaving money on the table by not applying for these grants.
      The CDBG program grants money to businesses with the goal of revitalizing communities and sparking economic development. The grant does have stipulations, which Lent says are designed for success, not failure, in a system that has been time tested by the state for 30 years.
      To respond to criticism that the town would be on the hook for the grant money if the stipulations of the CDBG program are not met, Toppan and Lent offered equipment as good faith collateral in an agreement between the Town of Machias and Bad Little Brewing Company at the August 11 board meeting.
      But Toppan says it's a lot more than that to her and Lent. "If it doesn't work out with the grant, it means that our businesses failed. Right? We have put everything into this, everything we own," she says. "So if it fails, if we don't meet the parameters, it means our whole business has failed, and we are bankrupt. This is not an option for us."
      Outside of Machias, two Maine breweries have successfully contributed to the state's economic development because of the CDBG program. Rock Harbor Brewery in Rockland and Bigelow Brewing Company in Skowhegan are both CDBG recipients that are now established brewers in their regions.
      One of the claims by area residents, however, isn't about the viability of the business. It's the one penned in a letter by David Clark, a Court Street resident, that implies Toppan and Lent's ownership of the property might be convoluted.
      "We did nothing underhanded," Toppan told the public at the select board meeting, touting a relationship with the law firm Rudman Winchell, which she said "is not in the business of brokering illegal real estate deals." Toppan added that the real estate deal that landed them the property at 101 Court Street caused them "a lot of heartache."
      Their story of the building purchase goes back to September 2019, when Toppan says they first entered into what they believed was a legally binding agreement to buy the property from Kehben Grier, then owner of the Beehive Design Collective, an organization that operated out of the historic home prior to Bad Little Brewing's purchase.
      According to the couple, the agreement between Grier and them halted when Camden National Bank came into possession of the property through a legal foreclosure process, before they completed their end of the pre foreclosure sale. That meant Toppan and Lent's contract was dissolved, and they would need to work with the bank if they were to obtain the property.
      "I was hysterical," Toppan says of the strange real estate conundrum. The pair of teachers turned brewers had been so certain they were closing on the property that they had relocated their family to Machias before the contract fell through. They had intended to live in the historic home while restoring it. They were effectively living, on and off, out of a camp, splitting time between Machias and Portland, where they were still employed by the school system.
      Ultimately, Toppan and Lent did come to own the home by buying it, months later, as a real estate owned property, or REO, directly from Camden National Bank, conducting a small auction in accordance with instruction from their real estate attorney to ensure their possession was fair and met standards of Maine law, the team of owners say. They also paid the property's accrued back taxes and applicable utility fees.
      It's this timeline of setbacks and unforeseen events that thwarted Bad Little Brewing Company's renovations. Currently, the soft opening is scheduled for October, with beer only. A full kitchen and bar grand opening will follow in November.
      Ultimately, Toppan and Lent say they want to be in the heart of Machias to bolster the community and to bring commerce, tourism, jobs and prosperity to the town, in addition to an intriguing assortment of locally-made beers. It's why they were accepted for the CDBG program in the first place, even after an application process that Lent calls "extensive and in depth."
      In Machias, almost 25% of the population are at or below poverty level. The average median annual earnings for women is only $16,563 and for men is still below $30,000, which makes a grant like this particularly important. But Toppan knows one thing. "Machias is special," she says, and they chose this area because "it's been through enough, through the wringer."
      Lent and Toppan note they are deeply committed to supporting local residents and vendors. As they expand their beer selection, they'll be including other Downeast ciders and beers, carefully curating a tap room that offers a taste of the coastal culture of this region. Similarly, they are being patient with slow going renovations, refinishing parts of the dilapidated home carefully and salvaging as much old wood as possible to create sheathing that speaks to its history and the people who lived and operated in it.
      They are grateful to the people in the community who support them. "There are a lot of people in this town that I feel like deserve a lot of credit for having an open mind," says Lent. "They were like, you know, we've listened and you've convinced me and I wish you luck."
      If luck is on their side, the October opening should bring up to eight new taps to the newly minted Machias beer scene. These include "a few IPAs, a couple of pale ales, a porter and a kolsch," according to Lent, who is also the location's head brewer.