This story is part of an ongoing series highlighting the businesses that received Business Recovery and Redevelopment Grant (BRRG) support from the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development during the COVID19 pandemic, offering a look at how they navigated uncertainty, used those resources to pivot, and where they are today.

In the world of craft brewing, the unsung hero isn’t the hops or the barley, it’s the yeast. At Jasper Yeast, founders Jasper Akerboom and Travis Tedrow understand that better than anyone. From their Loudoun County facility, they provide the essential cultures that define the flavor profiles of about 90% of Loudoun’s breweries.

But with the onset of the pandemic, the foundation of their business, like many others, began to crack.

“It was one phone call after the other,” recalls Jasper. “People were canceling orders.”

As taprooms across Loudoun closed their doors and the future of the local beer industry looked grim, demand for yeast dropped off almost overnight. The traditional grow-to-order model, which relied on long-term planning, was no longer viable in a world of takeout and uncertainty.

Jasper and Travis, like many other small business owners, realized they need to either adapt to a volatile market or fade away.

And adapt, they did. They pivoted hard and transitioned from a wide, custom catalog to a leaner, more flexible model that focused on best-selling strains with quicker turnaround times. By maintaining great relationships with local breweries, their support system held strong.

“Companies wanted to continue to work with us,” Travis said thoughtfully. “We’re both brewers. We gave notes on how to be more efficient with our products. We knew there wasn’t just one path forward. Community is an addictive industry.”

Even as they stabilized, a major hurdle remained. To stay competitive against national labs, they needed to innovate. They had the expertise, but they lacked the capital to bring their quality control (QC) testing up to speed.

“The old-fashioned way of testing works, but it takes three days to detect contaminants,” explains Travis. “We needed higher and faster accuracy.”

The solution was a qPCR machine, a high-tech piece of equipment with the ability to detect contaminants quickly and effectively. However, for a small business navigating a global crisis, such an investment felt out of reach.

Enter the ultimate gamechanger: Loudoun County’s Business Recovery and Redevelopment Grant (BRRG).

Filling out the application forced the team to refine their long-term vision. They identified that purchasing the qPCR machine would both elevate their own production and offer superior QC services to local breweries.

“When we told our clients we had that machine, it validated us,” Jasper notes. “It signaled to the brewing community that Jasper Yeast offered top-tier, quality product, helping us secure bigger contracts and solidify our reputation.”

Today, the impact of that investment is clear. Year-over-year sales have increased, their reach has expanded, and they are no longer just a B2B supplier. Jasper enjoys the educational aspect and bigger customer focus while Travis would like the home brewing community to give their yeast a try.

Looking ahead, Jasper Yeast is expanding, growing their original 3,500 square feet to 5,500 square feet, with plans for a customer-facing space that will host technical meetings, industry events, and possibly even a tasting room as they may concoct their own offerings.

Throughout industry changes, Jasper Yeast’s commitment to community, quality, and creating opportunity out of circumstance, proves exactly what it means to be #LoudounPossible…and in doing so, they remind us all that no challenge is impossible.

To learn more about Jasper Yeast, please visit https://www.jasperyeast.com.