“I always loved going to England and the feel of the local pubs and the community space,” said Bee’s Knees Proprietor, Sharon Deitz. “When I was coming back and forth to Vermont I used to hang out with a group of women who wanted a place to have a cup of coffee or listen to music that was in Morrisville’s village.”

Well, that dream came true in July 2003 when Sharon first opened the 25 seat café on Morrisville’s Main Street. The restaurant started out small: only 6 employees and few seats intimately placed. Once live music was added nightly, the business really started to boom. Sharon then had dreams of expanding her cozy restaurant and did just that in the spring of 2008. Between a local community bank and the Vermont Community Loan Fund, the expansion project took off in December 2007. While the bank provided the capital for the construction loan, the Loan Fund provided capital for the restaurant equipment.

“VCLF and the bank were really helpful and made me feel like we had a working relationship. The VCLF helped me adjust my financial model – their Technical Assistance was one of the most important parts.” The newly expanded and rehabilitated restaurant now boasts 50 seats with another 25 planned for the third floor for private parties or overflow. “We won’t have people waiting for an hour anymore to get a seat,” Sharon said.

The other advantage to the expansion? It doubled their sales as well as increased their number of employees on a full or part time basis. Sharon hires high school or college students in the summer, too.

“I can tell that the Vermont Community Loan Fund wants me and my business to succeed,” Sharon says proudly. “It is my ultimate goal for this business to become sustainable and to keep it local.” Sharon’s loyalty to small farms and businesses in the area is more than evident, more than 75% of her food expenditures – bread, meat, beer - go to local businesses.

“There’s a pride here between me and my employees about what we’re serving. And the relationships we’ve formed are vital – even when we’ve met a tourist just passing through and they tell us that stopping at the Bee’s Knees has made their day.”