This is part of a year-long ‘Love for Local’ series called NB365: portraits of New Brunswick entrepreneurs, businesses and organizations. Huddle is a media partner with Love for Local. Today, we hear from Jesse Vergen of Saint John Ale House.

I’VE ALWAYS HAD A DREAM OF OWNING MY OWN RESTAURANT. IT GOES BACK TO BEING IN HIGH SCHOOL AND IT WAS THE DRIVING FORCE IN MY CAREER AS A CHEF. I FIGURED IT WAS A WAY TO WORK MY WAY INTO OWNERSHIP AND STILL BE ABLE TO EXPLORE MY LOVE OF FOOD AND CREATIVITY.

I would also like to mention that my parents were very big influences as they were successful entrepreneurs in their own right. I’ve been lucky to have them guide me through my career. Supporting local has been one of my base beliefs over the past 20 years.

It has been the driving force of our business, and after a year of this pandemic, it makes it so clear why we need to support our local businesses from all sectors as we have finally had a taste of what it is like to be cut off from the world.

Right now we’re in defensive mode, the hospitality and tourism sectors have been punched in the face and kicked in the stomach. So we’re all focused on keeping a steady hand on the wheel while we push through this storm, creating more diverse revenue streams, strengthening our business model to be more resilient against uncontrollable forces. Supporting local businesses has a real impact because the people you support are the ones who support you back.