MCGREGOR, Texas (KXXV) — The city of McGregor's small business market is booming as one new business looks to make a lasting impact in the community.
- Approximately 70% of employers in the United States are small businesses.
- The population of McGregor is growing at a rate of 3.05% annually.
- The new brewery is expected to open in the next few months.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Greg Peterson can’t wait to see his dream turn into a reality.
“Love the small town kind of brewery and stuff like that. So really kind of had a passion for it and, kind of had a long, long time dream of, you know, potentially having my own place,” Greg Peterson, part owner of Franklin Beer Works, said.
Franklin Beer Works will soon be the new small business on the block in Downtown McGregor, ready to be part of a growing market.
“We had some acquisition opportunities to do some things in the in the brewery business and when it all came down, we just kind of decided to do it from scratch,” Peterson said.
Which asks the question: why McGregor?
“When we first started to look into building this out, we looked at a lot of different places, even downtown Waco and all that. There are a lot of challenges and just, for us, we were really kind of looking for a unique place and when I really started looking at some of the demographics, you know, data and stuff for McGregor, this is a growing little town, So, we kind of like the idea of small town, small close community.”
This community is thriving, with a population of more than 6,300 and growing at a rate of 3.05%. The potential for success is unmatched.
“We have quite a few small businesses that are coming to Main Street. There's, there's still some room, but for a long time, some of the buildings on Main Street had unwilling sellers or they were previously occupied. So, this kind of little boom that's happening right now is the real estate market that has kind of opened up for some entrepreneurs to come open business here on Main Street. Still room for growth, but we're seeing a, a pretty good uptick in what's happening,” Andrew Smith said, Director of McGregor’s Economic Development Corporation.
“We own a building across the street where the flower shop is at, so, you know, we've made a little bit of an investment and McGregor had some really good real estate opportunities so we took advantage of those and then we just figured we'd kind of see what happened with no real intention of doing this at all,” Peterson said.
Whatever the intentions may be, Greg is looking forward to connecting with this tight-knit community.
“People don't realize over 70% of employers in America are small businesses. So they're literally the backbone of the economy,” Smith said.
“This Is more of a a labor and venture of love than it is for profit seeking so we want to make sure that we balance, you know, profit value and all that stuff so that you know we can draw the people out for getting great value for their money so we're committed to that,” Peterson said.
