TEMPLE — It’s one thing to keep a business afloat during a pandemic. It’s something else entirely to open a new one.
Fire Base Brewingin downtown Temple starts serving fresh brews on Friday.
Duane Docstader, a part-owner, says despite the pandemic there was never any doubt about pushing forward after months of hard work.
“We’ve put to much time and effort into this to try and pull our feet out of the water,” said Docstader.
Both he and co-owner JD McBride are military veterans. The brewery has quickly become a passion project, and along with another partner, Stacy Zemp, the group is confident the community will support their operation when fears over the pandemic ease.
“Fortunately, or unfortunately, nothing lasts forever. We’ll get through this like Americans usually do,” said McBride.
The brewer says they probably wouldn’t qualify for any governmental loans or assistance, at this point. They’re planning to initially run a lean operation to keep costs lower.
Rod Henry, president of the Temple Chamber of Commerce, says plenty of other smaller business have applied for PPP loans during the past month.
“It’s been mixed,” he said. “certainly, there’s some frustration when it ran out a couple of weeks back. Frustration that they’re forgetting about the mom and pops,” said Henry.
Most restaurants, bars and retail shops near downtown have been hit especially hard by the shutdown.
“It’s been really devastating […] It’s just getting to identify what that new normal is. Every day, that changes, you’re really not sure how to approach business day to day,” said Henry.
Most are busy preparing for Friday, when Gov. Greg Abbott will allow retail, theatres and restaurants to reopen at 25 percent occupancy.
For now, Fire Base it planning to stick with curbside pick up until they get the greenlight to open their tasting room.
“We’re bringing a quality product to a very fast growing area,” said Docstader.
