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December 14, 2015

Rockland coffee roaster raising funds for new equipment to keep business open

Rock City Coffee Roasters in Rockland is looking to raise $80,000 for a smokeless coffee roaster to prevent the company from potentially having to close after 16 years in the downtown.

The coffee roaster, which also operates a cafe nearby on Main Street, had already extended its smokestack 15 feet in height to better disperse smoke and soot from the operation after neighbors began complaining to the city about the emissions in 2007, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Some complaints about smell and smoke from the operation have persisted, and the construction of a five-story hotel, expected to open next year, prompted the company to seek a change.

The company wrote on the page for its Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign launched Friday that the new development downtown has made it “impossible” to continue roasting with the traditional drum roaster. It is looking to raise $80,000 toward the total $100,000 cost of the smokeless roaster and structural changes to the building to accommodate the new roaster. As of Monday morning, the crowdfunding campaign had raised $8,360.

Rock City Coffee Roaster, which opened in 1999, employs 23 people, according to the BDN.

Read more

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