Bayou Brewing Co. Seeks State Revenue Bonds To Buy Equipment Will Be First To Get Funding Under New Government Program

A Spokane beer brewing company is applying for financing under a state revenue bond program.

Officials say Bayou Brewing Co. will be the first recipient of revenue bonds under a program set up to help small manufacturing and processing business projects.

“It’s what allows us to build a state of the art brewery,” said Bayou owner Steve Livingstone. “It’s a new thing for the state and they liked the business plan.”

Bayou first has to gain the City Council’s approval on June 24.

If the bonds are approved, United Security Bank will purchase $600,000 worth of revenue bonds from the state, which in turn will lend the money to Bayou.

Bayou will pay a lower interest rate, saving approximately $42,000 over five years, said Jonathan Hayes, revenue bond programs manager for the Washington Economic Development Finance Authority. The state revenue bond program is called TEMPE, or tax exempt manufacturing and processing equipment.

The finance authority is funded primarily by fees - in this case 4 percent of the bond - charged to the bond money recipients, Hayes said.

In Bayou’s case, that would amount to $24,000. That money covers all legal costs associated with bond issuance, Hayes said.

With the $600,000, Bayou plans to buy beer brewing equipment, Livingstone said.

The bonds will allow Bayou to buy top-of-the-line equipment - a 25 barrel system that would produce 10,000 barrels per year. The brewing system will be controlled by personal computer.

“It’s all touch operated on the computer,” Livingstone said. “It tells how much of each ingredient went in, the temperature, everything.”

The brewery should begin production by Sept. 1, he said.

The brewery will be part of a New Orleans style entertainment promenade complex - due to open Oct. 1 - with a microbrewery, virtual reality gameroom, music hall and riverside walkway.

All of this is being built in a 70,000 square foot commercial complex just east of Trent and Hamilton.

The second stage of the plan includes renovating another 50,000 square feet into office space, art galleries, bookstores and cafes.

Livingstone also owns Bumpers Fun Castles in NorthTown Mall, University City Shopping Center and Riverfront Park.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo