13-03-2025
How Trump's spending freeze and tariffs are affecting an Ohio brewery
COSCHOCTON, Ohio (WCMH) — The same week a Coschocton County family-owned brewery debuted its solar panel array, they received life-altering news: The federal funds set to cover half its $292,000 price tag had been frozen.
'This is a commitment, this is a contract,' Jael Melenke said. 'This isn't about politics, it isn't about solar, it's about expecting your contracts to be honored.'
Jael grew up less than a mile from where she and her husband, Kevin Melenke, now operate Wooly Pig Farm Brewery. It's a small, family-owned business in rural Fresno, Ohio, with fresh beer, curly haired Mangalitsa pigs and German influences. The Melenkes said when they took over the more than 150-year-old farm in 2017, they loved introducing local folks to craft brewing.
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Kevin said the 90-acre farm sources its beers from a natural spring on the property and reuses as much of its processing materials as possible to keep costs down. When they heard about the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Energy for America Program's energy grants, it felt like the perfect opportunity to cut down on their $20,000 annual electric bill.
'It seemed like it would be a perfect fit for us. It was for rural businesses and farming communities,' Jael said. 'You had a whole list of checklists, and we were on there, and it was going to be this great marriage of our sustainability goals and also business goals to reduce those costs. And it just seemed like no risk.'
Wooly Pig Farm Brewery received a $143,000 grant along with 40 other Ohio rural companies in April 2024. The funding was paused in February as part of an executive order signed on President Donald Trump's first day in office freezing funds for at least 90 days while agency heads submit reports for review.
In total, those Ohio small businesses received $5,881,751 in just that April round of funding, averaging just under $150,000 per recipient. Per the agreement, the brewery fronted the nearly $300,000 construction bill with the promise of federal reimbursement after their solar array was operational for 30 days. Kevin said the final 10% of the project's invoice is due in the next two weeks.
The Melenkes worked with a company they were familiar with. They have a contract with the federal government. They asked if they should be worried after federal funding freezes began, and were assured the money had already left the U.S. Treasury and been paid to the state. So when word came from their contractors that their Rural Energy in Ohio grant was frozen, they said they were shocked and angry.
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'Your first instinct is panic,' Jael said. 'Of course, that's a huge number amount, but for us, we're a small business. That's our payroll for an entire year.'
The pause in funding upended their financial plans, halting future brewery projects and forcing them to pause employee raises. Jael and Kevin said affordability was important to them, especially in a rural market, and they are working hard to not raise prices. The average cost for a craft beer at the brewery is $5, a price that was set when they opened in 2017 has remained largely unchanged through COVID-19 and inflation.
The Melenkes said they can also no longer order inventory materials in advance without their promised funding. Kevin said the brewery will likely have to raise the cost of their bottled beer, especially because they import their bottles from Canada and are concerned about rapidly changing tariffs.
'I just know that any idea I have, there's no money to potentially invest in it, so it just dies right there,' Kevin Melenke said. 'You can't harvest all these like potential growth ideas because you just can't invest in it because you don't have the funds for it, which is really frustrating.'
The Melenkes said their federal contract does not have a clause permitting the government to retract those funds, to their knowledge. They said they have received little information about the freeze, an added frustration. They said they got a call from their contractor, who was called by the USDA. They have received no formal or written communication about the nearly $150,000 that's in limbo.
Jael and Kevin said they have spent hours contacting lawmakers, who largely tell them they are looking into it but don't offer a clear plan. They did say Rep. Troy Balderson gave them a call, which they were grateful for. Between self-advocacy, still running their business and losing sleep at night, they said the funding concerns have taken hours of their lives.
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'We're not just your constituents. We're a rural business. We're a small business,' Jael said. 'We are on a 90-acre farm, we're in Appalachia — these are all parts of the country that everybody is in support of. And these policies, these actions are harming us.'
Wooly Pig Farm Brewery is a place where people on all sides of the political spectrum can share a beer, and Kevin said they've seen relationships form regardless of politics across their wooden tables. Many of these patrons have stopped by since the farm heard about their freeze to help the brewery through this financial uncertainty.
Jael and Kevin said they never would have pursued the solar array project if they hadn't had the federal support. Kevin said they had planned to budget closely for a few months until the funding was paid back, but the pause has made it so any unplanned costs could turn devastating.
'It's with with the federal government, and you expect the contract to be honored,' Kevin said. 'And then all sudden, it's not. And it seems unfair, it seems illegal.'
The brewery would save $14,373 each year in electricity costs with the new solar array, but the Melenkes said that investment is a slow return. With their promised federal grant, the brewery would break even on the investment in around 10 years. Without it, they won't make back their investment until 2045.
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