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V o l . X X I N o. I Ja N ua r y 1 2 , 2 0 1 5 22 C arrabassett Coffee may not be the biggest company in the Carrabassett Valley, but with 125 wholesale and 2,000 mail-order customers from all over the country, it may be one of the most well-known. In early January, the 16-year-old company became a whole lot more vis- ible, as it opened a new fire-engine red headquarters along Route 27, between Farmington and Sugarloaf, just a mile from its former home. e new 7,000 square foot facility, which is more than five times larger than the old one, will allow Carrabassett to double the amount of coffee it roasts, add two employees to its 19-person staff and position the $2 million business to endure for the long term. "We'll be able to bring good coffee to the masses," says co-founder Tom Hildreth. What's more, he hopes the new home base will send a clear message to anyone passing by: here in this outdoor-sports mecca, you can have a way of life that you love — and find a way to make a living. "Perhaps a light bulb will go off and they'll think, 'Maybe I can try to figure out how to make a living here, too," says Hildreth. Carrabassett's expansion comes as other major employers in the area are experiencing growth spurts of their own. In the past year, Barclaycard in Wilton, Jarden Plastic Solutions in East Wilton and Maine Wood Concepts in New Vineyard have all made public plans for new invest- ments and job growth. "Existing businesses that are expanding are driving economic growth in the region," says Alison Hagerstrom, executive director of the Greater Franklin Development Corp. To be sure, the Carrabassett Valley shares the struggles common to many areas in Maine — high costs of electricity and fuel and a nascent broadband infrastructure. But she hopes this business growth, along with newer corporate recruits like the Poland Spring Bottling Plant, which brought 40 new jobs to the area in 2008, offer proof of what the Carrabassett Valley has to offer. Appetite for specialty coffee grows In many ways Carrabassett Coffee's origin story is as iconically Maine as the coffee has become. After graduating from Harvard in 1970, Hildreth, a native of Marblehead, Mass., moved to the area, taught skiing at Sugarloaf, worked in various positions in the corporate office and eventually became direc- tor of marketing there. Along the way he worked with Steve Skaling, a chef who had opened Java Joe's coffee shops in Sugarloaf and Augusta. Hildreth invested in the shops, then the two decided to roast coffee together full time. At the time, in the mid-1980s, the market for specialty coffee was just starting to percolate nationwide, as consumers thirsted for alternatives to mass-market brands. Seemingly Tom Hildreth, co-founder of Carrabassett Coffee, in front of the new, 7,000-square- foot facility on Route 27 in Kingfield. Carrabassett Coffee has annual sales of $2 million and has both retail and wholesale business. p h o t o / p e t e r va n a l l e n Specialty coffee grows beyond its urban roots F O C U S in the valley below sugarloaf, Carrabassett Coffee grows B y J e n n i f e r V a n a l l e n

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