Guest: Maggie Iannuzzi, Co-Founder
Based: Ellsworth, ME
Online: www.precipicecoffee.com • @precipicecoffee
What they drink: Cold brew with a splash of cow milk—all year round.
Listen/Watch on: Spotify • YouTube
KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE POD
Bill and Maggie are spouses who work together at Precipice Coffee. They have distinct roles correlating to their skill sets to help uplift their business.
Maggie had an early start in coffee and then expanded her role in hospitality into craft brewery sales. Bill was roasting coffee for a company that provided cold brew to WeWork locations. Then the pandemic happened. It changed how they did their jobs and made them reconsider what they were doing in the big picture of their life together.
The cost of doing business in the DMV (short for District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia) and a personal relationship with the Acadia National Park region in Maine drew them north to Ellsworth as a potential place to start a business. They discovered the dual-use property where Precipice is located down the rabbit hole that is For Sale on Zillow.
The name has multiple meanings. We all seem to be at a metaphorical precipice these days, and staring a business is no different. However, an actual place also inspired the business name. The Precipice Loop Trail in Acadia National Park is not for the faint of heart. According to NPS.gov, “It is not recommended for small children, for people with a fear of heights, or for anyone in wet weather. Descending the Precipice is dangerous and not advised.” It is bold on their website.
Take a look at the terrain map to see the dramatic vertical along the trail. It rises 1,000 ft. in less than one mile! Image from ©Google Maps. Before making the leap, the Iannuzzis spent a lot of time talking with the city. It’s how they learned about complaints some locals had about the smell of another local roasting operation. That revelation led them down the path to the Bellwether, an electric, no-emission machine.
The Bellwether Roaster at Precipice Coffee. Photo credit ©Precipice Coffee. The Bellwether simplified getting started as a roastery by eliminating the need for new roasting machine plumbing and permitting, being user-friendly, and offering a platform for sourcing if needed. This is an essential episode for anyone interested in roasting on the Bellwether.
Mainers: A nickname for Maine locals who were born there.
National politics impacts local business. The National (and State) Parks system generates a massive amount of revenue for the small towns that surround them. When Parks face budget cuts, it impacts their ability to serve park goers. The drastic cuts they are facing now not only affect the parks but often negatively impact the economy of the surrounding towns.
A downgraded tourist experience combined with the inability to process the incoming visitors will potentially limit the number of tourists who pass through these small towns with vacation dollars to spend. Some recent stats:331,900,000—a record number —of visitors went to a National Park in 2024.1
Acadia National Park was the 7th most visited park with 3,961,661 visitors in 2024. 2
The NPS system received 3.475 billion dollars from tax dollars in 2023. 3
That sounds like a lot, but the NPS system contributed 55.6 billion dollars to the local economy in 2023. The restaurant industry (including cafes and coffee shops) was a big recipient of that spending. “Restaurants received the next (2nd most) greatest direct contributions with $5.2 billion in economic output and 68,600 jobs.”4
PARAPHRASED ADVICE FROM MAGGIE
Advice for starting a new business: Start a business plan and seek out support from small business centers/resources. Put the ChatGPT away! Use a state-sanctioned template to ensure you’ve covered all your bases. There is a lot to learn!
Advice for starting a business in a new community: Get involved! Specifically, engage with the local business community. Volunteering your time and effort to uplift the community goes a long way.
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BRANDS WE USE & HAVE PARTNERED WITH*
Please use these links. You’ll be getting a great gear AND supporting Roast! West Coast. The links below enable us to generate some affiliate revenue. As always, we don’t partner with brands we don’t use, coffee we don’t drink, or strongly recommend.
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/visitor-use-statistics-dashboard.htm
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-were-the-most-and-least-visited-national-parks-in-2024-180986251/
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/IF12436.pdf
https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/national-parks-contributed-record-high-556-billion-us-economy-supported-415000-jobs
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