Members In The News

Phone:
800 886-5440

Fax:
610 406-0833

Members In The News

We like to call attention to our members who have gotten special recognition. If your company has been featured in the media, we’d like to share it with all BottomLine Partners. Please notify the BottomLine Partners office if you’ve been featured in the newspaper, a magazine, on a web site, or anywhere else. We’ll include a copy or a link from our web site. We believe in sharing the good news and we’re proud of what our members have accomplished.

Sunday, July 11, 2004

Michele J. Granitz, owner of Max Crema's Espresso and Coffee Bar, Alsace Township, got over her aversion to coffee.

Java hater turns into java lover

By Christopher Hinz, Reading Eagle

At one time, Michele J. Granitz, owner of Max Crema's Espresso and Coffee Bar in Alsace Township, would have been perceived as the most unlikely individual to run such a business.

“I hated it,” said Granitz, referring to coffee.

Fortunately for customers of her new 1,100-square-foot shop at 3130 Pricetown Road, the 37-year-old Oley Township resident got over her distaste for the popular pick-me-up.

That transition occurred in the late 1980s after she and husband Christopher A. moved from their native Harrisburg to Santa Clara in northern California.

While visiting nearby San Francisco, Granitz walked into a specialty coffee shop and was intrigued, prompting her to try out an espresso maker Christopher had received as a gift.

“I just fell in love with the taste,” she said.

Granitz got herself hired at an independent coffee shop in Santa Clara and eventually became manager. Later, she did a stint at Starbucks, the leading specialty coffee chain.

After returning east with Christopher and children Steve, 18, and Julia, 12, and working another job for several years, Granitz decided to take the plunge and operate her own coffee bar. Investing about $100,000, she opened April 12 in The Shoppes at Woodside, a new mini-mall.

The shop's name derives from the word crema, the foamy brown extract that floats atop a properly brewed espresso. At home, she and Christopher gleefully would utter max crema whenever they brewed a cup with the perfect crust.

The shop buys from an importer who goes directly to the plantations to procure top-grade green Arabica beans from Indonesia, Africa, Jamaica and Central and South America, Granitz said.

The beans are roasted at the shop, five pounds at a time, and ground just before brewing to maximize flavor, she said.

Two part-time employees and, on occasion, Christopher help her run the shop, which sells about 20 coffee varieties.

As for the coffee that she once hated, Granitz now believes, “It's one of those products that appeal to everybody.”

You can learn more about Max Crema's at www.maxcremas.com.

Contact reporter Christopher Hinz at 610-371-5050 or chinz@readingeagle.com

Steve Yeanish, co-owner and chef at the Oley Valley Inn was featured in both the Eastern PA Business Journal (Sept. 29, 2003 edition) and on the front page of the LifeStyle section of the Reading Eagle on Oct. 8, 2003. Steve and his partner, Barry Frain, began raising exotic chickens when a staff member commented that they could feed a flock of chickens with all the trimmings and scraps they dispose of. That's just what they did. Their current flock includes exotic breeds like Rhode Island Reds and Buff Rocks and produces close to 30 eggs a day. Fed on fruit, vegetables, stale bread and cheese, these free range organic eggs would be worth quite a bit if sold on the market. Instead, the Inn's brunch customers enjoy them in a variety of interesting dishes like Egg Drop Soup with Crab and Corn, Banana's Foster French Toast, Frittata Mexicana and more.

Blazing Technologies of New Morgan was featured on the cover of the July 28, 2003 edition of the Eastern Pennsylvania Business Journal. As a manufacturer of electric utilities vehicles, they've teamed up with Intuitive Controls to create the Speed Sentry Trailer which tells motorists how fast they're going through highway construction sites. This will be especially helpful as of August 1st when drivers going more than 11 miles per hour over the limit through a construction site will face an automatic 15 day license suspension.

Blazing Technologies also manufactures a multi-purpose electric utility vehicle called the "Bold Utility Vehicle". Don Blasdell is the president of Blazing Technologies.

visit the Blazing Technologies web site

Congratulations to the Gotwals family whose Brook Ledge Horse Transportation company was featured on page one of the business section of the Reading Eagle on Sunday, June 22nd. Located in Oley Township, Brook Ledge was recognized as the transportation company of choice, providing services to such celebrities as George Steinbrenner, Calvin Klein, William Shatner. They also hauled the top three finishers of the prestigious Kentucky Derby including first place winner Funny Cide.

visit the Brook Ledge Horse Transportation web site

Congratulations to John Woodward and his staff. The April edition of the Berks County Chamber of Commerce newsletter featured John's 3rd & Spruce Cafe in their "Out to Lunch with Karen and Annie" column. In addition to liking John a lot, the reviewers gave the restaurant an excellent review and recommend it for your next business lunch or casual outing.

visit the 3rd & Spruce Cafe web site

Delta Consultants
Fellow member, Mickey Fineberg, the Managing Partner of Delta Consultants and author of the quarterly "Coach's Corner" in the BottomLine Partners newsletter was featured in the business section of the Philadelphia Inquirer on March 17, 2003 in an article entitled, "Managing is not an Easy Job"

Click here to read the entire article

Radius Toothbrush Featured in TIME and HOME STYLE magazines

Plus their design is selected as one of America’s Best by the Denver Art Museum

The aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically intelligent toothbrush designed by Kevin Foley and James O’Halloran is featured as one of America’s Best Product Designs in the current exhibit at the prestigious Denver Art Museum, “U.S. Designs 1975 to 2000”.

In the exhibit program, Curator, R. Craig Miller describes the Radius toothbrush as “One of the earliest and still most successful ergonomic examples …”

The March 2002 Home Style magazine features the Radius Toothbrush on their cover in conjunction with an article about the design show.

What could more “in the news” than having a full page picture of your product in TIME magazine? The May 13, 2002 issue of TIME featured the Radius toothbrush on its Style Alert page.

To learn more about the exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, visit: http://www.denverartmuseum.org/. You can view the entire line of Radius toothbrushes at: http://www.radiustoothbrush.com.

Special offer for BottomLine Partners

Radius is running a “Designer Special” discount of 50% for BottomLine Partners – Original and Scuba Adult Brushes are $4 and the children’s brushes are $2. Call Lisa at 800 626-6223 ext. 105 to place your order.

Congratulations to everyone at Radius Corporation, a member of BottomLine Partners since August of 2001.

The Goldsmiths, Ltd named Best Independent Jeweler by “Berks County Living”

“When the mall stores just don’t make it anymore, the advantages of independent shops like Goldsmiths begin to be appreciated. When you deal with the custom jeweler, you embark on a relationship, one that exceeds a simple sale. Goldsmiths may be masters at custom making jewelry, but it’s obvious they’ve done pretty well with customer relations as well, providing unique baubles to a growing and loyal following.”

The Goldsmiths, Ltd has been a member of BottomLine Partners since 1998. They’re located at 1538 Lancaster Avenue in Shillington - 610 777-7978 and at Spring Ridge Village Square, Commerce Drive in Wyomissing – 610 374-0800 or visit their web site at: www.goldsmiths.baweb.com/goldsmiths.htm.

If your company has been featured in the news or earned special recognition, call the BottomLine Partners office at 800 886-5440. We love sharing good news.

4300 Oley Turnpike Road, Reading, PA 19606