Andrew Gage, owner of Velo Coffee Roasters, has a love-hate relationship with heat.
Without the 400-degree temperatures necessary to roast the coffee beans he’s scoured from around the globe, he’d be out of business. But the scorching temperatures both in his roasting lab and outdoors make his bicycle-based coffee delivery service an exercise in mind over matter, he said.
“It rarely dips below 90 degrees inside, and I’m standing next to a roaster operating at 400 degrees, so everything I do is just hot,” he said.
His one-man company, founded two months ago, specializes in roasting, delivering and sometimes grinding small batches of specialty coffee beans for coffee enthusiasts in the downtown area.
A coffee lover since high school, Gage sold his car to fund the business, which he started with a $22,000 investment.
“My wife and I moved downtown, and I started biking all the time, and realized that I wasn’t using my car as much,” he said. “When people see you on a bike pulling a trailer that looks difficult and its hot, and they recognize who you are and what you’re doing, it’s rewarding.”
With the rush to embrace green methods of doing business, Gage said he’s been a huge hit in his delivery area, which encompasses downtown Chattanooga, the North Shore and St. Elmo.
In fact, he’s enlisted the help of his wife, Jessica Gage, and his parents, Mark and Renee Gage, to help him keep up with demand.
“He has talked about this for years, so we have helped him out as much as we can,” his mother said.
Andrew Gage is known around town in part for his fresh roasted coffee, and partly for his tremendous beard, which he’s been working on for 11 months, she added.
“He has always liked that image, and it has really stuck in Chattanooga,” Renee Gage said.
Dr. Beverly Brockman, associate professor of marketing and entrepreneurship at UTC, said the company has the potential to take off because of the recent interest in environmentally friendly products.
“It’s an innovative idea,” she said. “I would think that considering the growth in environmental consciousness, there are some real possibilities.”
Carolyn Mitchell, assistant director of communications at the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, said that green businesses like Gage’s held “exceptional promise” in Chattanooga.
“Chattanooga is a city where small businesses can succeed, and we wish Andrew Gage the best in his new enterprise,” said Mitchell.
Gage is based in the Business Development Center and keeps fans updated on his Facebook page.