Hello Roasters Guild members. For those who don’t know me, my name is Paul Thornton and I am the Roastmaster and Green Coffee Buyer for Coffee Bean International (CBI) in Portland Oregon, and the Past Chair of the Roasters Guild. I am the last original Executive Council member from its inception and my term ends at the SCAA Conference in Minneapolis, after 7 years of service.

I have decided to run for the SCAA Board of Directors, of which if elected, my term will start at SCAA Conference. There are three vacant BOD positions of which need to be filled. You have three votes and I’m asking for you to mark my name on this ballot as one of your choices.

I want to tell you a bit more about myself. I have been working with the SCAA for many years and feel very strong about my abilities to be one of the leaders of this Association. I have had the wonderful opportunity to learn about the intricacies of the Association by working directly with its committees and Staff for over the last 8 years, and of whom I work with weekly.
The BOD is the leadership and governing body for the SCAA and candidates are to be selected from the best and most qualified members of the organization. However, the nominating committee when seeking candidates is only able to recommend qualified individuals who meet the membership category requirements. Because of these membership category requirements I was forced to complete a petition to secure a place on the election ballot.
So I am on this ballot because I received over 25 signed petition letters from members of your Association who wanted to see me on this ballot.

I started my coffee industry career in 1982 at CBI as their coffee roaster. For the next eight years I mentored under the founders of the company, Jeff Ferguson and SCAA Past President, Gary Talboy. In 1990 I continued my passion for roasting even to this day, and took over the coffee buying responsibilities as these amazing entrepreneurs sold the company to pursue future endeavors. Joining CBI gave me a special interest in coffee. I found myself spending every free moment learning everything related to the business sides of the coffee industry and business management. During my last 25 years with CBI, the company grew from a small specialty roaster to a specialty roaster I never imagined we could be. Today we are building a new roasting facility with a capacity of over 20 million pounds; a long way from the one single roasting machine we had when I walked in the door. I grew with the company in every aspect, holding the position of Operations Manager for three years and headed internal projects to allow seamless growth. I have held a seat on CBI’s Management Team since 1995 creating and implementing strategic planning for the company and maintaining a culture that has contributed to success of the company and maintained a quality of coffee that I experienced when I walked in the door 26 years ago. During my time in coffee, I have managed many projects within CBI including designing and executing training programs, designing and managing operating budgets, and heading growth and other capital projects.

My experience with CBI became the backbone of how I proceeded to use it from a leadership standpoint.
I am currently a member of the Roasters Guild and have been on the Executive Council of the Roasters Guild since its inception in 2000. I am Chairing the Roasters Guild Certification Task Force toward the completion of the SCAA/Roasters Guild Certification Program for coffee roasters. I recognized the need for smaller coffee companies to have easier and less costly access to learning about coffee which lead to me co-founding the Northwest Regional Roasters Group. I am a Certified Q Cupper, have coordinated with every SCAA Committee and have developed trainings with many of them. I have been teaching coffee related topics at annual SCAA conferences and annual Roasters Guild Retreats for over eight years and speak at numerous other coffee events. I am currently on the Advisory Panel for Roast Magazine.

During my tenure of Chair of the Roasters Guild last year, I lead the following successful initiatives:
• Financial Success: Lead the design of the first Roasters Guild built operating budget and managed within this budget during one of the SCAA’s most difficult financial years
• Membership Development – Organized RG>SCAA membership summit to resolve member concerns and streamline the administration of the membership resulting in less complaints by members and further revenue’s for the Association..
• Organizational: Proposed an initiative to develop an Executive Council task structure to assist the leadership in becoming more focused on task management. Upon approval by the RGEC and under my leadership, the Roasters Guild Executive Council developed committees and currently manages seven committee categories such as Membership Growth and Development, Governance, Educational, Event Management, Volunteer Committee, and developed the Certification Task Force.

Election ballots will be mailed to you in mid -March. The Specialty Coffee Association of American can only accept one vote per member company, signed by the official contact within your organization. I ask each member of our association to take the time to review each candidate and vote for individuals who you feel are qualified to help guide the largest Specialty Coffee Association in the world. I ask that you seriously consider each candidates ability to lead and manage such a large and diverse association, and vote appropriately.
Election ballots must be signed and returned back to the SCAA Office by April 17, 2008 for our votes to count.

Please vote during this election and when you do, vote for whom you believe are the excellent leaders.
Comments are welcomed!

Regards,

Paul Thornton
CBI Roastmaster and Green Coffee Buyer
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Paul Thornton
RGEC Past Chair