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If there are two things our office loves, it's coffee and dogs. What else makes the Earth go round? With her recent graduation from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, receiving the award for Park City's 2018 Small Business Person of the Year by Alignable and just all around being an awesome human being, Claudia McMullin and her company Hugo Coffee Roasters are the Utah Microloan Fund's May Small Business of the Month!
UMLF: Claudia tell us about yourself and your background. What made you get into roasting coffee in Park City Utah? Claudia: I moved to PC from NYC in 1999 after quitting my job in a Wall St. law firm and selling my apartment. In my never ending quest to NOT be an attorney, I was the Executive Director of Nuzzles & Co for a few years and ran for office and was elected for 2 terms at a Summit County Council member. During my tenure as Chair of the County Council, I sat on the executive committee of the PC Chamber and learned that the coffee shop vendor in the Visitor Information Center was not renewing its lease. I went home and told my husband that I could run a coffee shop and .. Voila.. I bought the shop. Within 1 year I decided to buy/start a roasting company because I wanted to vertically integrate and control the quality of my own product. I reached out to the talented roaster, John Lynn, in summer 2015 and we launched Hugo Coffee Roasters together in December 2015. In addition to animal rescue, my passion is to mentor young entrepreneurs (Lucky Ones, Drool) and connect people. I am a member of the PC Chamber, UWNG, PCWBN, and President of the PC Rotary. I have sat on many nonprofit boards including the Sundance Advisory Board, University Hospital Foundation, Kimball Arts Center, PC Chamber, and MAG. I am currently on the Lucky Ones Advisory Board. UMLF: What is the history of Hugo’s for those who don't know the scoop? Claudia: I opened Hugo Coffee shop in the Visitor Information Center in Kimball Junction in February 2013. I decided to name the company after my handsome rescue dog, Hugo, because I ran Nuzzles & Co and was known for loving animals… especially dogs. I launched the roasting company in December 2015. In 2018 we rebranded Hugo Coffee Roasters to include an animal rescue give back mission. Our mission at Hugo Coffee is to save dogs by roasting fantastic organic fair trade coffee! Our vision is to become the go-to coffee for animal lovers nationwide. UMLF: How do you feel Hugo’s is different from other coffee roasters in Utah? Claudia: Hugo Coffee Roasters’ differentiator in the roasting world lies in our animal rescue give back mission. For every retail bag of Hugo Coffee sold (whether online via Amazon or in brick & mortar retailers like Whole Foods), Hugo Coffee gives between 8-10% of its proceeds to an accredited animal rescue. For example, for all online sales, Hugo Coffee donate to Best Friends Animal Society. For all regional sales, Hugo Coffee donates to Nuzzles & Co. - unless our customer prefers a different animal rescue in which case we’ll donate to the customer’s chosen rescue. Hugo Coffee also pops up at animal (Yappy Hours) and animal rescue related (Super Adoptions, Strutt Your Mutt) events and farmers markets to sell our retail coffee and swag to benefit specific animal rescues. In addition to Nuzzles & Best Friends, Hugo Coffee has donated to Canines With a Cause and the Utah Animal Adoption Center. With respect to our roasts, Hugo Coffee’s roasts are intentionally and specifically created to appeal to a broad range of palettes and, as such, range from light to french roast dark. Our coffees are all named with a nod towards dogs: New Trick Light Roast, Rollover Breakfast Blend, Bonafido Medium-Dark Roast, Howler Espresso, Black Paw French Roast, Downward Dog Decaf and Dog Daze Cold Brew. Our beans are organic fair trade. In picking the specific farms from which to buy green beans, John seeks farms that pay a living wage and offer benefits to all employees. Locally, we are environmentally focused by utilizing an oxidizer with our roaster for prevent emitting particulates into the air. Oh, and finally, our coffee is fantastic! UMLF: You recently graduated from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program. Congrats! Tell us about your experience going through the program. Claudia: I loved every minute of the GS10K program! I met the most amazing people who I hope to have in my life for a long time. I felt supported and inspired by my fellow entrepreneurs. My growth opportunity involved launching a new product – which I did on April 1st. Dog Daze Cold Brew Packs for making cold brew at home or camping without any muss or fuss. I can’t wait to collaborate with and support every single one of my fellow scholars! UMLF: What is your favorite blend of coffee you guys produce? Claudia: I love Bonafido and drink a french press of it every day. Once the weather warms up, I drink Dog Daze Cold Brew as well.. And everyday! UMLF: Every business has its highs and lows. Tell us about a challenge you faced as a small business owner and how you overcame it? Claudia: Cash flow! Self funding launching and growing a manufacturing company was much more expensive than anticipated. Incurring debt vs. investor capital to supplement my own funds was my chosen path. I do not want to incur any more debt so must become self sustaining in 2019.. Which I am on the path to become! UMLF: How do you believe the Utah Microloan Fund has helped you and your business? Claudia: The UMLF has helped me with financing equipment for my new customers.. Especially St. Regis Deer Valley. And, of course, providing critical cash flow. I am beyond grateful to the UMLF for their support and resources!! Thanks for sitting down with us Claudia! To try Claudia's coffee you can visit her in person at their coffee shop, check out their roastery or buy online: To visit the Hugo Coffee Shop:
To snag a bag of coffee online you can visit here: Is a burger just a burger? Are all hamburgers created equal? Husband and wife Chris and Nicole Carver didn’t think so—because every once in a while, often in unexpected places, they had tasted burgers that were truly great—juicer, tastier, more fulfilling to the body and the soul. That begged the question: “Why can’t we get the best burger in the world right here in Utah?” They then decided that they were going to make the answer be: “You can!”
Together they established Tonyburgers (they had a brother named Tony, and it sounded better than Chrisburgers or Nickburgers) and they put the first restaurant in Centerville. But they didn't stop there, now with five locations under their belt, Tonyburgers has definitely earned the title of April Small Business of the Month! UMLF: Chris and Nicole, tell us about your backgrounds. Chris and Nicole: We grew up in Bountiful Utah and have been married for twenty-four years and have four beautiful children. With our family, we live in Kaysville, Utah. Chris has a Bachelor's Degree from Utah State University in Software Engineering and Nicole has an Associates degree in Business Management and an Interior Design background. Neither of us had any experience in the restaurant industry when we decided to open a burger place in Centerville Utah. UMLF: Tell us about Tonyburgers. What are are some menu items we HAVE to try? Chris and Nicole: Tonyburgers was the result of lots of digging and researching different methods to come up with the BEST WAY to make burgers, fries, and shakes. We went to lots of different cities looking for that city’s best burger. Once we discovered what we thought was the best, we reproduced it in our own way. Each product on our menu has a special way it is prepared. Our burgers are made with a proprietary blend of sirloin, chuck, and brisket. Our fries are fresh cut and fried twice. Our shakes are made with real ice cream and hand whipped just like the diners of old. UMLF: Yum! What made you want to start Tonyburgers? What inspired you? Chris and Nicole: Desperation is the mother of invention! In 2008 Chris, along with many other people at the time, needed a job. He always wanted to own a burger place so he asked me about it. I thought he was crazy, but I agreed to give it a try. So we set out to find out how to create a restaurant! UMLF: How do you feel like Tonyburgers is special compared to other burger joints in town? Chris and Nicole: We are BIG into doing things the right way. Not the easy way or the fast way. When we started, people in the restaurant industry who were helping us get started told us “You can’t cut your own fries, they’ll be too much labor”, or “You can’t mix your own shakes, it’ll take too long”. We also heard that we’d never be able to find a local butcher who could mix the different cuts of beef for our burgers. They told us it would cost too much. Our answer was always “We’ll figure out a way to do it right, or we won’t do it”. UMLF: Every business has its highs and lows. Tell us about a challenge you faced as a small business owner and how you overcame it? Chris and Nicole: We almost had to close all our doors when we opened our second location in downtown SLC. It opened to hardly any traffic, and while our first location in Centerville was initially a big success, we had the first In-N-Out in Davis County open right down the street. This immediately cut our sales in half. So we had two restaurants and neither was making money. We overcame the problem with lots of hard work, and a few key people (most importantly our landlord of our Centerville location) who helped us figure some things out. Over the course of a couple years we gradually increased our sales and were able to become profitable again. UMLF: How do you believe the Utah Microloan Fund has helped you and your business? Chris and Nicole: When we were struggling, we took on some debt, and our credit scores took a hit. So when we were on solid ground and wanted to expand again, banks wouldn’t lend us any money. Fortunately, we found out about the UMLF and used it to help us partially fund the build out of a couple of our new locations. It was a GREAT resource for us! Thanks for sitting down with us guys! Definitely check out Tonyburgers asap if you haven't yet at any of their five locations. To stay in touch with Tonyburgers Or visit them at:
 Mobility Prosthetics is the newest prosthetics company in Utah and their highest priority is to take care of those who must deal with amputation during their lifetime. Mobility Prosthetics wants to help them get back to living the life that they want to live as soon as possible. They firmly believe that building prosthetic limbs is about people, not profits which is why they use advanced digital scanning, computer-aided design and 3D printing in order to make the process quicker, more convenient and more comfortable for the people who are dealing with so much already. They also offer in-home patient care. When they first came to us for their loan we were blown away by what they wanted to do for the community and knew we just had to sit down with owner Brian Greer to learn more.
UMLF: Tell us about the team behind Mobility Prosthetics and your backgrounds? Brian: I was raised in Utah and moved to California in 2001. There I met a 4 year old girl who was born with no arms and no legs. I met her prosthetist, who was able to make her prosthetic arms and a custom wheelchair, and I was hooked. I began working as a Technician and learning from him all about the profession. Since that time, I have accepted positions in various companies across the country, always watching for the right opportunity to return to Utah. In 2016, the time was right and I moved back home, bringing with me the knowledge and experience that I gained over the last 15 years. Digital scanning, computer-aided design and 3D printing have become the foundation of my approach to patient care and in 2018 I teamed up with Ty Oswald and, together, we began Mobility Prosthetics. When I am not building prosthetics or tinkering with the 3D printer, you can usually find me playing basketball or hide-and-seek with my five kids, or going on a walk with my lovely wife, Lindsay, who has stuck beside me over 13 years and many, many moves. I met Ty in 2018 and we both felt like we could create a great partnership. We each bring unique strengths to the organization and together, we have great synergy. Ty Oswald is also from Utah. Growing up he loved to play sports and be active in the outdoors. He was introduced to the world of prosthetics at 18 years old, when he was diagnosed with a form of cancer that required him to make the difficult decision to amputate his right leg, just below the hip. He has over 30 years of experience in the field and he possesses a unique ability to connect with patients because of his firsthand knowledge of what they are experiencing. Patients love to learn from him and feel that he really listens to their wants and needs. When he is not working with patients you can find him playing with his dog or spending time with his daughter, who is in high school. He also still loves to spend time in the outdoors. UMLF: What made you want to start Mobility Prosthetics? What inspired you? Brian: Ty and I both have a passion for helping people. We have both been working in the prosthetics industry for a long time and we have seen a lot of companies that, although well-intentioned, sometimes lose sight of what is most important. In the hectic day-to-day dealings it is easy to get distracted by profits, difficult situations and critical choices. Over the years, we have developed a strong belief that a prosthetics company can and should be focused on people, not profits. In 2018, we felt that if we wanted the freedom to focus on people, we would probably need to start our own practice, and Mobility Prosthetics was born. UMLF: How have prosthetics changed over the years? Tell us about the technology you use? Brian: Technology is changing so rapidly and the prosthetics industry is falling behind. While many prosthetics companies are still using the same techniques and equipment that was used 50 years ago, we are the first prosthetists in Utah to use advanced digital scanning, computer-aided design and 3D printing in order to design and build prosthetic limbs. This enables us to offer free in-home patient care, which is also very unique to this area. Not only are we able to use this technology today but we are teaming up with engineers to improve and develop the technology that will continue to advance this industry in the future. Computerized knees, hydraulic ankles, vacuum suspension, may sound futuristic, but they are all common place at Mobility Prosthetics. UMLF: Every business has its highs and lows. Tell us about a challenge you faced as a small business owner and how you overcame it? Brian: One of the greatest challenges that we have faced has been understanding the rules and regulations regarding starting and running a prosthetics company. Navigating this complex world has tested our patience, our determination and our confidence in ourselves and each other. As partners, we have leaned on each other for strength and support. We push each other to be better and we work hard together in order to tackle each and every challenge. With the right amount of focus and a lot of help from many people outside of our organization, we are succeeding every day and we feel very optimistic about the future. UMLF: How do you believe the Utah Microloan Fund has helped you and your business? Brian: Without Utah Microloan Fund, we would not be in business today. They believed in us when almost no one else did. Because our business is new and somewhat untested, we faced many closed doors, unanswered calls and emails. UMLF was honest and straightforward with us. They were helpful and reassuring throughout the process. While other groups took weeks to communicate with us, UMLF didn’t let a day go by without calling or emailing us. We always knew what the next step in the process was and we were very grateful for the guidance that we received from everyone in that office. Seeing that they believed in us and wanted us to succeed increased our confidence in ourselves and that shines through in our business. We want to extend a big thank you to Mobility Prosthetics and congratulate them on being our March Small Business of the Month! To stay in touch with Mobility Prosthetics: Or visit them at:
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