The Maine Brew Bus Presented with Portland Buy Local Award

PORTLAND, METhe Maine Brew Bus was presented a 2014 Indie Biz Award by the Portland Buy Local organization during an awards ceremony in Portland.

The 7th Annual Portland Indie Biz Awards are sponsored by Portland Buy Local and recognizes leaders among Portland’s vibrant independent businesses and community organizations and showcasing the impact that independently owned businesses have on Greater Portland and the State of Maine.

Just entering their third year in business, The Maine Brew Bus provides guests all-inclusive tours on bright green former school buses that are designed to present an educational insider’s look at nearly two dozen different Maine independent craft breweries, distilleries, wineries, meaderies, and more. Each tour features plenty of samples, local experienced live guides, a safe designated driver, a full lunch or snacks, and historical facts and trivia about alcohol.

The Maine Brew Bus was nominated by public vote along with several other businesses in the category of “Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind”. This specific category was designed to recognize independent businesses that thrive locally without a traditional office or storefront. In a second public vote, The Maine Brew Bus beat out several other locally-owned businesses for the award.

“Being recognized as a community leader for buying local in Portland is extremely important to us,” said Maine Brew Bus founder Zach Poole. “We are a very locally oriented business ourselves, it’s even part of our tagline: ‘Driving You to Drink Local.’ Our entire mission is to support our partner businesses by bringing new customers directly to our local alcohol producers, restaurants, and food carts. This increased exposure helps these local businesses continue to grow and succeed.”

Earlier this year, the company was awarded an 2014 Editor’s Choice award as Maine’s Designated Driver by Down East Magazine. The popular public review website TripAdvisor presented The Maine Brew Bus with a 2014 Certificate of Excellence based on outstanding guest reviews that have placed the company as the #1 TripAdvisor Portland Activity beginning in August 2013.

About Portland Buy Local

The Portland Buy Local campaign was launched in July 2006 by a group of about twenty Portland business owners and citizens. After receiving a very enthusiastic response from both businesses and residents, that initial working group decided to incorporate the Portland Independent Business and Community Alliance (PIBCA) in September 2006 and form the organization’s first Board of Directors and Advisory Board.

Portland Buy Local supports locally owned, independent businesses in Portland, to maintain Portland’s unique community character, provide continuing opportunities for entrepreneurs, build community economic strength, and prevent the displacement of community-based businesses by national and global chains.

To date, over 450 members have joined the campaign, displaying Portland Buy Local window decals, posters, countertop thank-you cards, tee-shirts, bumper stickers, and other educational materials in their businesses, as well as incorporating the Buy Local logo in their own marketing and advertising. Portland Buy Local has been featured in numerous news articles, and on a variety of radio and television shows, giving an opportunity to bring our message to a wide audience.

For more information visit http://www.portlandbuylocal.org/

About The Maine Brew Bus

The Maine Brew Bus was founded in September 2012 by Zach and Allison Poole, who began by offering tours on Saturday afternoons to a handful of breweries in the Portland area.

Guests quickly saw that having a designated driver to guide them to both established and up-and-coming producers offered them an opportunity to learn much more about the craft alcohol business than they could learn on their own. Tours are led by expert guides in addition to a knowledgeable driver to ensure the best possible experience for participating guests as well as for the businesses with which they partner.

By the time the first anniversary of the company rolled around, nearly 1,500 guests had taken tours and The Maine Brew Bus had become the #1 activity in Portland as rated by TripAdvisor users. The fleet now includes two buses and additional staff.

The all-inclusive tours on bright green school buses provide a behind-the-scenes look at Maine’s craft breweries, distilleries, wineries, and more. They offer daily scheduled and private tours in Greater Portland and Southern Maine. They also offer frequent specialty and adventure tours, and feature a different brewery each month in their Progressive Beer Dinner series.

For more information and to see a current schedule of tours and events, please visit www.themainebrewbus.com