JENISON ? Pilot Malt House has a problem all businesses wish they had ? the brewing ingredient maker has been unable to grow fast enough to meet demand. So founder Erik May has launched a campaign under Michigan’s new crowdfunding law hoping to raise up to $250,000 from Michigan residents.

The Pilot Malt House campaign is the second under the new Michigan Invests Locally Exemption. The inaugural campaign earlier this year, by The Tecumseh Brewing Company, raised $175,000 in local investments from Michigan residents. MILE, also known as PA264 of 2013, uses an investment model of crowdfunding rather than a rewards based model like Kickstarter.

Pilot Malt House was licensed last August by May, the Chief Executive Officer who also runs sales, marketing, customer service, and raw ingredient supply chain management. Ryan Hamilton serves as his Production Manager. Malting is the process through which cereal grains are turned into a blend a of sugar and enzymes, which gives beer its alcoholic property.

?We started last August and the next day we received a six-ton order from New Holland Brewing Company. We were under prepared for growing that quickly,? May said.

Now May said he has a list of 200 brewers, distillers, and home-brewing stores that want his malt. He?s only been able to supply 30 so far.

?We?re clearing about 2,000 pounds of malt every week to 10 days,? he said. ?We can bump that production up to 50,000 to 75,000 pounds a week to meet current demand. We just need bigger equipment. And one of the ways for us to do that is through crowdfunding, which is the best fit for us. We?re not yet bankable.?

May said he would also like to hire some employees, including himself. He continues to serve in the U.S. Air Force as an Intelligence Officer out of Battle Creek. He?s been in the active military for 13 years, but would like to transfer to the Air National Guard and work full-time at Pilot Malt House ? a feat he hopes to accomplish by year?s end ? through the help of his crowdfunding campaign.

So how does the Michigan MILE crowdfunding program work? Michigan businesses can solicit investments from Michigan residents and don?t have to pay for expensive audited financials unless they raise more than $1 million per year. At the federal level, that threshold is proposed to be $500,000. Those willing and able to provide audited financials can seek up to $2 million from Michigan residents, a limit twice that proposed on the federal level by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Pilot Malt House is only seeking $250,000 from the public to supply malt to the rapidly expanding craft beer industry that has had a tough time sourcing malt within the state. Very little malt used by Michigan brewers comes from within the state, May said. The exceptions are Bell?s Brewery in Kalamazoo, which does a little bit of malting for its own production, and a small batch malting company north of Lansing called the Michigan Malt Company. May said this accounts for roughly two percent of the malt used in the state.

May said Pilot Malt House has set what he calls extremely lofty goals as part of its business plan – to supply 30 percent of the grain bill for Michigan breweries. To support this plan, Pilot Malt House needs to expand and hopes to raise the money through its crowdfunding campaign.

If you?d like to contribute, click on LocalStake.Com Click on the logo for Pilot Malt House.

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