MATT Borg
35 | Carrier Roasting Co | Co-owner, Head of Coffee Operations
Residence: Montpelier
Career highlight(s): The event I'm most proud of is my first trip to visit our coffee producing partners at origin, which was nine years in the making for me in my career. We talk a lot about the importance of relationships in our business, from our customers in the cafe, to our wholesale partners who serve our coffee, to the family farmers who grow it. The first two are tangible on a daily basis, but because of distance the last one can feel abstract, even if our business decisions always back it up. A trip to walk the land where our coffee grows with the artisanal producers responsible for it has the ability to close the circle like nothing else.
Community Involvement: A core element of operating a café or coffee shop is engagement with the community. It is the reason most of us are in this line of work, and it's something we take seriously. Coffee shops have a unique ability to bring people together from all walks of life, and often act as the lynchpin of an entire community, particularly in rural areas and small towns that are so ubiquitous in Vermont. This has organically led me to function as the moderator of a public space that is held dear by so many in our community, and has further led to opportunities to engage in ways that I never predicted, from mentoring a local teen for a senior project on the sustainability of the global coffee trade, to hosting educational workshops about coffee for a reading group composed of elder members of our community. Some of the moments that stick with me the most are the unplanned meetings with youngsters who ask their parents to take them to see the coffee roaster on a day off from school.
What motivated you to live and work in Vermont? I grew up in New England, but I began my roasting career in California. I was motivated to move to Vermont to return to my roots and retreat from the dry desert to the lush woods, and ever since I've been on a journey to add value to the local coffee landscape in the context of Vermont's rich agricultural traditions.
Favorite part of your job? My favorite part of my job is teaching people how to make better coffee. Great coffee is a surprisingly complex beverage, but it's make or break at the point of preparation. Good brewing seems complex on the outside but it's simple at the core, and It always fills me with joy to see the look of empowerment on someone's face when it clicks into place.
Most inspiring mentor and why: My most inspiring mentor is an old colleague named Jen Apodaca, who now has her own roasting company called Mother Tongue. Jen showed me you can be family oriented, smart in business, and a totally radical bad@$$ at the same time.
Tell us something fun about yourself that few people know: Few people know that I am a guitar player that in a past life toured extensively on four continents, and my career in coffee began as a side gig to pay rent.
Favorite Vermont escape: My favorite Vermont escape is the tower on the top of Spruce Mountain.
If you had unlimited access to funds, which cause(s) would you support: I would support two causes we desperately need: a green energy revolution to transform our economy and fight climate change, and a criminal justice revolution to transform our communities and fight institutionalized racism.