With a U.S. Small Business Administration loan, Adam Batchelder, a U.S. Marine Corps Reserve veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and a Johnson & Wales University graduate, opened Smoke & Squeal Barbecue – a food truck based out of Pawtucket’s Hope Artiste Village – in May.
After 10 years working in the food-service industry, Batchelder said he was ready to take the risk and open the mobile business.
“I always had a love of BBQ,” he said. “There’s so many different versions of BBQ, but smoking food is the true essence of the South.”
Currently a Massachusetts resident, he said he opened Smoke & Squeal in Rhode Island because of “the food scene; the culture and people are more open to [food trucks].”
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Adam Batchelder serves Smoke & Squeal Barbecue customers. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO[/caption]
Batchelder said without the $100,000 SBA loan he “wouldn’t have the business.” He approached the R.I. Small Business Development Center in July and, stressing a concentrated timeline, secured a Navigant Credit Union loan by the end of January.
