Cleveland Cavalier star LeBron James and other pro basketball players drinking coffee roasted in Warren?
It's a slam-dunk, according to Jordan Filippidis, who says his Top Shelf coffee supply company on Griswold Street N.E. in April received a marketing agreement with the National Basketball Association to sell his special coffee blend in NBA-branded bags.
Lindsay L. Milne, a licensing agent for the NBA, confirmed the agreement but couldn't provide more details because ''it's very early in the process.''
Filippidis already is in fast-break mode. He traveled to Chicago on Thursday to buy equipment that will package his whole bean and ground roast coffee in flat-bottom bags that sit upright on store shelves. His current equipment only makes the flat bags used by restaurants and other commercial accounts.
He said he expects to be producing bags of coffee carrying the NBA logo in three to four weeks.
''Imagine LeBron James drinking my coffee,'' said Filippidis, 62, who came to Warren in 1972 after serving in the Greek Army and who believes he may achieve his business break-through. ''I have four workers now; I could get to 50.''
But like James' quest for an NBA title, Filippidis' campaign has not been smooth. He said he cashed in his and his children's savings to buy the equipment after being denied a small-business loan of $150,000 to $200,000 from some area banks.
Filippidis said banks told him his sales for the last two years weren't high enough to qualify for a loan. He acknowledged business has declined as part of the ripple effect of downsizing at auto-parts maker Delphi Packard Electric and the automaking General Motors Corp. Lordstown Complex - two of the main customers for his previous business, Top Shelf Coffee on Parkman Road N.W.
Two economic development officials in Warren who already have loans with Filippidis' coffee roasting business on Griswold said Filippidis hasn't approached them for a loan but that they're willing to help him get financing.
''We'll be setting up a meeting (this) week to see what he needs and programs we have, not just locally but whatever state programs are available,'' said Michael Keys, director of Warren Community Development.
Keys acknowledged credit is tight from banks, many of which still are recovering from the credit crunch that struck with the subprime housing crisis and so are being cautious in their loans. But he said government money for equipment and other needs might be available that doesn't come from a bank.
Anthony Iannucci, director of Warren Redevelopment and Planning, also said his agency ''absolutely'' is willing to help. ''These are the kinds of things the city does,'' he said.
An unlikely chain of events led Filippidis to the NBA. He said a customer who liked his coffee originally planned to link him with an Internet marketing firm in Florida.
The deal didn't materialize, but the customer's girlfriend tried the coffee and liked it. When her supply ran out, she contacted Filippidis wanting to buy more. He shipped her a case at no charge.
Several months later she requested more, which he sent, again at no cost. When she came back again, she said she had a marketing firm that did business with the NBA and that she would send some of the coffee to the league to be considered along with national brands to receive an NBA licensing agreement.
A letter from NBA Entertainment dated April 17 gave him the license agreement.
Filippidis said the flavor of his coffee, which he calls Columbian Supremo Blend, comes from a family secret blend of Columbian, Brazilian, Guatemalan and Nicaraguan beans that he's formulated over 20 years in the coffee business. The trick, he said, is in how he roasts the beans.
He said some people could say he was lucky to get the NBA connection, but he noted with pride, ''No, my quality is better.''