Boomers turn dreams into business opportunities

Joseph McGill had built up a successful business designing and constructing operating room air-flow systems for hospitals throughout much of the United States.

And yet the 54-year-old McGill, along with his 58-year-old significant other, Pam Mason, dreamed of also owning a business where they could have more give and take with customers.

Given that they both love coffee, the baby boomers decided 11 months ago that the best way to make their dream come true was to open a specialty coffee shop.

Their store, Desert Wind Coffee Roasters, at 7772 W. Sahara Ave., has been so successful that they’re now in the process of doubling its size, making it possible to handle nearly 50 customers in living-room-style chairs.

“What we’re part of — offering coffee roasting with a coffee shop on the side — is very much like the microbreweries that have sprung up all over,” McGill said. “We’re part of a growing coffee revolution in Las Vegas that’s already taken root in places like Portland, Oregon.”

That baby boomers continue to be a force in the entrepreneurial world shouldn’t be surprising. According to the Kauffman Foundation, boomers were twice as likely to launch a new business in 2015 than millennials. Work experience, coupled with equity and/or wealth already in place, are reasons boomers find they’re in the right position to start a business, according to the State of Entrepreneurship Study.

“It helps to have a passion for what you want to do,” McGill said.

Sitting in the middle of his shop are burlap bags full of 150 pounds of coffee beans from Africa, South America, Central America and Indonesia. Behind a small counter, but in full view of customers, is the roaster that transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products.

While 10-pound batches are roasted, the shop sells half-pound and 1-pound bags to retail customers and up to 2-pound bags for restaurants, other coffee shops and offices.

Many customers arrive asking either McGill or Mason for an exotic cup of coffee that they can drink right then as they talk with friends.

“We’re becoming kind of a big family,” Mason said. “It’s fun to get to know so many people.”

Paul Harasim’s column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Friday in the Nevada section and Thursday in the Life section. Contact him at pharasim@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5273. Follow @paulharasim on Twitter.