Rural Cider Company Awarded RBDG with First Southwest Community Fund

EsoTerra Ciderworks utilizes heritage orchards from Southwest Colorado to produce an artisanal cider that is distributed across the county and served locally at their tap room in Dolores Colorado. This spring they were selected from a pool of rural entrepreneurs to be granted the Rural Business Development Grant with the support of First Southwest Community Fund. This opportunity, provided by the United States Department of Agriculture, is a competitive grant designed to support technical assistance, training and other activities leading to the development or expansion of small and emerging businesses, in rural areas.

“We are thrilled to support EsoTerra’s development through USDA’s Rural Business Development Grant program. They have an exciting business opportunity, not only to put Dolores on the map for high-quality cider, but also to help other small cideries in the region. We had over 50 applications for this grant process, and can’t wait to work with EsoTerra to help them achieve their goals.” Cass Walker Harvey, Executive Director, First Southwest Community Fund

"Dreaming of success is easy, achieving it is work. First Southwest Community Fund is facilitating the prosperity of rural businesses in our region by connecting them to existing grants and programs intended to help companies establish, grow and flourish. EsoTerra Ciderworks is proud to have had FSWCF facilitate an elaborate application that landed a grant to fund a comprehensive marketing strategy and ongoing marketing training, for our artisanal cidery. Small businesses like ours make exponential leaps with programs like these, and we couldn't have been more thrilled to work with such a delightful team toward a mutual goal." Elizabeth Philbrick, Co-Founder, EsoTerra Ciderworks

EsoTerra Ciderworks is a 2018 graduate of the SCAPE program.