LOCAL

Crowdfunding underway for burger eatery

Brian Paynter Daily Telegram Staff Writer
Three area businessmen have launched a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign to help secure a loan for a proposed $1 million Chomp Burger restaurant in downtown Adrian.

Three area businessmen have launched a rewards-based crowdfunding campaign to help secure a loan for a proposed $1 million Chomp Burger restaurant in downtown Adrian.

Crowdfunding consists of persuading a large group of people to finance a particular project or venture, typically through the Internet.

Eric Potter, his father, Bruce, and brother, Brad, want to raise $10,000 through www.kickstarter.com so they can obtain a $500,000 loan for the Chomp Burger project.

“We are a brand-new, start-up business so we don’t have any history to show them (banks) that Chomp Burger has been or will be successful,” Eric Potter said.

So far, eight supporters have pledged $554 toward the goal with 18 days left in the crowdfunding campaign. It will end at 2:48 p.m. on April 12. Chomp’s Kickstarter Web page can be found at this link: tinyurl.com/ChompAdrian.

Rewards for investing include a Chomp Burger bumper sticker with a $5 donation, two tickets to an exclusive VIP party before the restaurant opens with a $50 donation and four T-shirts with a $100 donation.

“If we’re unsuccesful it’s possible that we may have to change our plans to bring Chomp Burger to downtown Adrian,” Eric Potter said. “We would refund everyone’s money if Chomp Burger didn’t happen at all.”

The Potters want to open a Chomp Burger restaurant at the corner of North Main and Front streets. They would hire about 50 people.

The Potters, who own and operate the Little Caesars restaurant in Tecumseh, sold their two Little Caesars stores in Middleton and Trenton, Ohio, because they believed in the Chomp Burger project.

A nearly 3,000-square-foot Chomp Burger restaurant at the former Amoco gas station site would feature a brick facade with an open, industrial atmosphere inside. It would also have an atrium with outdoor seating. Chomp Burger would seat about 130 people.

Customers would be able to watch their burger made from fresh, organic meat in an open kitchen.

Kirk Valentine, owner of Sphere Project Management, would serve as general contractor on the project.