A lot has been written about the workforce -- millennials in particular -- choosing between a career and a passion. That shouldn't be the case. While baristas and other coffee professionals may find it hard to make millions, they should be able to make sustainable wages while also developing as a professional. What are ways that cafes, roasting companies, and other coffee industry organizations can provide this working environment? Two small business owners with a proven track record in employee recruitment, development and retention, offer an in-depth behind-the-scenes look into how it's all possible in today’s lecture.

Brian Helfrich, owner and CEO of Summit Coffee Co. in Davidson, North Carolina, and Ryan Jenson, owner of Peregrine Espresso in Washington D.C., lead a panel featuring Roast Magazine’s Connie Blumhardt, Cafe Import’s Andrew Miller, and Atlas Coffee Importers’ Tymika Nichelle Lawrence.

Special Thanks to Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP

This episode of the Expo 2019 Lectures podcast is supported by Softengine Coffee One, Powered by SAP.  Built upon SAP's business-leading Enterprise Resource Planning solution, Softengine Coffee One is designed specifically to quickly and easily take your small-to-medium coffee company working at any point along the coffee chain to the next level of success. Learn more about Softengine Coffee One at softengine.com, with special pricing available for SCA Members. Softengine: the most intelligent way to grow your business.

Related Links

• Read a full transcript of this episode on SCA News
• Listen to other episodes of the SCA Podcast 
• Learn more about the upcoming 2020 Lecture Series at the Specialty Coffee Expo 

Table of Contents

0:00 Introduction
2:30 What Millennials and Gen Zs want from their workplaces
5:25  What creative ways are we using to make coffee careers affordable and how has this changed over the last decade?
14:15 What do you find means the most to the professionals you are working with? What is the deep, core value of your team and how is workplace culture helping you recruit and retain employees?
27:30 What are you doing in your companies to cultivate good leaders in your team?
30:00 How are we training our coffee professionals and their soft skills?
42:40 Audience questions
1:00:30 Outro