3 minute read
He glows Brendon Maxwell
he glows
BRENDON MAXWELL
Some might question opening a business in the midst of a pandemic, but that would not be Brendon Maxwell. In July, he and his co-founder opened Landing Beer Co. on The Landing in downtown Fort Wayne, after many months of planning and construction. The Landing is a $32.2 million development project located on Columbia Street, featuring multiple businesses and residential offerings. The Landing Beer Co. specializes in craft beer and barbeque.
“We were so far in, it didn’t make sense to put things on hold,” Maxwell said. “And I tend to be an optimist.”
In speaking with Maxwell, you get a sense that everything about the new business, as well as his first business, Utopian Coffee, and possibly his life, in general, is far from random. It’s all strategic.
“We want to facilitate a space people are excited to check out,” Maxwell said. “A place that connects people. Our café is designed to be welcoming, a place where people can meet or maybe start businesses. Landing Beer Co. has the same heart as Utopian Coffee.”
Utopian’s mission: coffee roasters focused on high-impact social projects throughout the world.
“My real heart and passion are overseas, and that’s really how it began,” he said.
Maxwell, 37, caught the travel bug at age 16 when he visited his older brother Jack, who was living in Europe. Fast forward to 2006, when Maxwell and his cousin co-founded Utopian Coffee.
Thanks to technology, they work closely as partners with farmers around the world.
“These are not typical vendor relationships,” he said. “We share their stories and highlight the products they’ve labored over.”
Their coffee bags have farmers’ photos on them, and they continue to expand their farmer partnerships. In addition to converting cocaine farms to coffee in Columbia, they partnered with an allfemale coffee co-op in Guatemala last year to support women’s land ownership.
For Utopian Coffee, it’s all about fairness. “In most places, farmers were being underpaid,” he said. “We’re paying them up to three times what they were getting paid.”
The pandemic hasn’t been all easy for Maxwell. “I’ve had to cancel trips to Columbia three times,” he explained. “My favorite part of the job is to grab a backpack and meet our farmers, getting to know them and their families.”
He was recently on a podcast, pre-Covid, and was asked to give advice for those questioning the next step.
“There is so much to it. . .” Maxwell said. In the end, it boiled down to this: “Book the flight, because once the flight is booked, you’re committed. Just go for it. This analogy is transcendent to other work, but basically you have to make a bold decision that makes it tough to go back. There are risks and potential downsides but it’s worth it.”
“I would rather fail epically than never try at all,” he said.
His enthusiasm for The Landing is contagious.
“We’re honored to be in this community, and to be part of the dining experience it’s creating,” he said. “We’re committed to this block. We’re committed to downtown. We’re committed to Fort Wayne.” a
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