I am UAA: Tim Gravel

B.B.A. Accounting '90
Owner of Kaladi Brothers Coffee
Hometown: Livermore, CA
Fun Fact: Used to run stats for UAA basketball games

UAA alum Tim Gravel shares a pretty typical story of how he came to live in Alaska: He came up thinking he would be here for a certain period of time (in his case to earn his college degree) and he ended up never leaving. From there, however, his story gets a little less than typical-after all, he is co-owner of one of the largest coffee roasters in the state, Kaladi Brothers Coffee Company. Let's find out how a guy goes from staples and nail guns to public accounting to being a "Catalyst for the Community" through coffee.

Tim's first exposure to Alaska was on an extended business trip with his father, back in 1976 in the 7th grade. His father worked for Senco, the air-powered staple and nail gun manufacturer, so when Tim was out of high school and needed a summer job, his father had connections to co-workers in Anchorage. After a summer working (and fishing and playing) in Alaska and returning to California for junior college, Tim thought he'd travel north one more time for his undergraduate degree at UAA-after all, he had to go somewhere, and Alaska had captured his imagination.

"I figured I'd come up to get my degree, spend some time fishing, and then I'd go home," he says. "So my brother and I packed up my VW van and moved me to Anchorage. And I just never went home!"

At UAA, he pursued a degree in accounting, waiting tables at Red Robin on the side to help with living expenses. That's where he met Mark Overly, one of Kaladi's partners. The company was only three years old and Mark needed a few buddies to help fill large orders from time to time, so Tim helped out when he could. Then, out of college, working as an accountant for KPMG Peat Marwick and planning his return to California, Tim was approached by Mark at a Christmas party, asking if he'd take a look at the Kaladi books. Needless to say, he stayed on as accountant/warehouse person/barista at the sole Kaladi location in town at the time on Brayton Drive.

Tim gradually worked his way to co-owner in 1996, and Mark left the company in 1998, at which time Brad Bigelow (co-founder with Mark) and Tim bought out his shares. Since those humble beginnings, Kaladi has grown from a coffee cart on 4th Avenue to 14 café locations: 10 in Anchorage, 1 in Wasilla, 2 in Soldotna and 1 in Seattle. Brad oversees the physical imagery of the company, how the stores look on the retail side and how they're maintained. Tim himself has added the art of coffee roasting and community projects to his tasks in addition to the accounting.

"Mark was a huge mentor to me. He, Brad and I came up with the slogan 'Catalyst for Community' and Kaladi's mission besides making coffee-it had to be about more than just making coffee," he says. "At first, as the accountant, I couldn't fathom how we could be giving away so much money and product as donations while struggling to pay the bills. But Mark always said that if we take care of the customers and the community, we didn't need to worry about the bottom line."

Almost 20 years later, Kaladi Brothers has won accolades such as the Anchorage Chamber Gold Pan for Business Excellence, Manufacturer of the Year by Made in Alaska, and numerous top Press Picks from the Anchorage Press's annual best-of listings.

Tim and Brad recently spoke to UAA M.B.A. students about the Kaladi story and the lessons they've learned along the way. And Kaladi has partnered with UAA on other events in the present and the past, including Campus Kick-off and the Haunted Halloween Fun Night. Giving back to the Anchorage community is the foundation of Kaladi, and Tim has a soft spot for UAA in particular.

"To me, UAA is such a part of Anchorage, such a part of the community," he says. "It's always been dear to me, I guess. I had great accounting teachers who I still run into occasionally, and I liked that UAA was small enough that I knew everybody in my program when I was a student."

Tim embraces life in Alaska like he embraced UAA and embraced an unexpected career in coffee roasting. His wife is an APU grad and along with their three kids they spend their free time fishing and hunting and biking and skiing-all as proud members of the Anchorage community. Find out more about the fun community events that Tim has planned at www.kaladi.com.