A Family Affair: The Anderson’s pose around one of the machines in the roasting process. At left are Erik and his wife Carola, then Sally, Don, and daughter Jana, who is the office manager.
What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas—at least not for a family of entrepreneurs who ship more than a ton of roasted coffee beans to wholesalers throughout the country every month while aiming to live up to the company motto: “Your preference is our passion.”
After full careers in teaching in southern Nevada, Donald ’68 and Sally (Michero) Anderson ’71, along with their son Erik ’00 opened Colorado River Coffee Roasters in Boulder City, Nevada, in March 2009.
Don had been a teacher, principal, and director of research and development; Sally was an elementary school teacher for 10 years and a school librarian for 17 years. Their son Erik had worked with Disney throughout the U.S., South America, and Japan for five years. Upon retiring, Don opened Delphi Research of Nevada, a social research firm specializing in program evaluation and impact assessment. He continues this work along with the family’s new venture.
Colorado River Coffee Roasters (CRCR) began with the vision of bringing the highest quality specialty-grade coffees to southern Nevada, and the firm has lived up to that vision, receiving glowing reviews from as far away as New York and Japan.
Don and Sally attribute the company’s success largely to Erik’s craftsmanship. Each type of coffee bean requires different roasting temperatures and processes, and Erik has spent considerable time studying roasting and training for his craft. But study alone is not the secret; Don said that clients and other roasters who have witnessed Erik at work have said that his focus, intuition, and manipulation of all the variables in the roasting process are extraordinary.
Still a young company, CRCR has experienced steady growth, tripling sales in each of its first three years. The company sells to food and beverage establishments such as coffee houses, fine dining restaurants, and specialty cafés “that consider coffee to be of as much importance as the other items on their menu,” Don said.
The company’s beans also are available to retail clients online.