Fueled by caffeine and a conscience, former exec taps into retirement funds to finance coffee roasting in the Appalachian foothills
During a 1998 humanitarian trip to Guatemala, Roger L. Varner, II, collapsed alone on a jungle tour. After being found by locals, he was flown gravely ill to Guatemala City, where he underwent emergency surgery to save his life.
While the near-death experience didn’t provide him with a glimpse of the afterlife, it did bring this life into sharper focus. “It’s important for me to do something meaningful, to do those things I love,” Varner says. “And two of the things I’m passionate about are coffee and humanitarian work.”
Before his life-changing experience, Varner, 44, had been traveling over the course of several years to Guatemala and other Central and South American countries to support numerous hands-on humanitarian projects. During some of his visits, Varner worked with coffee bean farmers to help bring new wealth and jobs into impoverished communities.
“I was working in the villages where the farmers were picking and roasting the beans, and I got to really connect [with them],” he says. “Coffee is directly connected to the people who grow it and, since my passion is working with people in underdeveloped countries, I thought it would be wonderful if I could someday have a business that opened a pathway to visiting these countries and connecting with the companies that are growing these beans.”
Before chasing his dream of coffee entrepreneurship, Varner worked for over 15 years at SBC, most recently as associate director. But when SBC merged with AT&T in early 2006, he took a closer look at his life in the corporate world.
“The company was moving in a different direction, and colleagues were facing the possibility of layoffs,” says Varner. “It was the perfect time to reevaluate my goals and dreams. It was time to take more control of my future.”
Varner left SBC and bought a 30-acre farm in Ohio’s picturesque Hocking Hills region in the Appalachian foothills. He explored self-employment opportunities that would allow him to personally guide his financial future without betraying a well-developed social conscience. And he determined that he needed to create a business that would allow him to travel to underdeveloped countries for business and humanitarian work.
With the verdant landscape of Hocking Hills serving as inspiration and friends like business-partner Scott Musick urging him on, the concept for a local coffee roasting company began taking shape. “There’s no other roaster right here in Hocking Hills,” Varner says. “Yet this is the fastest-growing tourist area in Ohio.”
Varner became a student of all things coffee. He studied roasting practices in Guatemala, and he connected with an international coffee consultant, Robert Barker, who became his mentor. He also began the search for a way to fund his dream.
But Varner’s dream was nearly derailed when his quest for funding left him well short of the necessary capital for his venture. Fortunately, he came across a document that had been given to him some months earlier when he’d considered buying a franchise. “It was kind of a fluke that I uncovered this information on Guidant Financial Group,” he says. “They specialize in facilitating business purchases using retirement money. It was fortunate for me, since I had no other way of financing my concept -- at least, not in the way I envisioned it.
“Guidant structured a program that jumpstarted my business,” he says. “I used my pension and 401(k) as seed money.” Because such purchases are viewed by the government as IRA investments, use of his retirement money wouldn’t trigger a taxable distribution or other penalties.
On September 1, 2006, Varner transformed his long-percolating dream of working with coffee beans into reality when he launched Hocking Hills Roasters, Inc. (www.hhcomforts.com). Retirement money in hand, he leased a space in Rockbridge, OH, and opened the door for business.
“We’re doing very well and are enjoying excellent word of mouth,” he says, pointing out that he’s neither running a coffee shop nor an espresso stand. “I don’t even offer cappuccino or espresso,” he says. “I sell roasted coffee by the pound and by the cup, roasted nuts, and homemade fudge cooked up by Scott.”
With the rich smell of freshly roasted coffee beans bringing customers through the door, Hocking Hills Roasters continues to build a loyal customer base. “My primary business is educating people about quality coffee,” he says. “I love to connect with people and, since coffee is a very respected commodity, it’s easy for me to get buy-in.” Varner points out that in addition to local folks, lodges, restaurants and businesses buying coffee from him, he gets online orders from as far away as Napa Valley. In fact, increasing online sales is a goal he plans to focus on next.
Varner, who holds a master’s degree in management, mentors graduate students from the Voinovich Center for Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University at Athens. “I tell them that, no matter what business plan they have, they first need to ask themselves, Can I give 110% of myself to make this succeed?”
Varner can’t help but preach the gospel of self-determination, and he hopes others won’t require a close a brush with death before examining their life’s goals. “So many people come into my shop and, when they learn I left corporate behind, they say they envy me. So I ask, “‘Then what are you doing about it?’ I tell them it’s up to them to do whatever they want with their life. If they say they just don’t have the money, then I tell them how I financed this place with retirement money and counsel from Guidant. If you really want to succeed, there is a way.”
By using retirement funds to finance his business, he reports he has more of a vested interest in his company’s success. Additionally, since his new 401(k) now owns shares in his business, his retirement funds will grow in value as the business grows. He says he “couldn’t be happier” with the investment he’s made.
Varner recently celebrated one year of business ownership. “I’m living my dream, but I hope I never feel like I’ve fully realized it,” he says, “because then I’ll stop growing. I like the challenge of reaching for my goals. I may get caught up in the logistics of running a company and planning for the future,” he confesses, “but I never lose sight of one thing: providing an excellent cup of coffee.”
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