Jeremy Schneider is the manager of the Freeport Starbucks conveniently located at 49 Main Street. He is a man with many talents which include boat building skills to singing-in-a-chorus skills. When he's not working, he enjoys singing with the Chorale Arts Society which performs in Portland area churches. He volunteers for the Compass Project, a non-profit organization which helps young middle school students learn boat building skills www.compassproject.org.
A native of New York, Jeremy and his wife made the move several years ago to start a new life here in Maine. Maine felt familiar because for many years Jeremy and his wife had visited his wife's grandmother's place in Naples along the lovely shores of Long Lake. I too spent 7 terrific years at Camp Owatonna which is at the other end of Long Lake.
While in New York, Jeremy gained extensive working experience at a Starbucks there. I forgot to ask whether he is from the city or perhaps "upcountry" New York. I'm not quite sure how New Yorks refer to those who live outside of NYC. What drew Jeremy to Maine was an opportunity to work at the Landing School in Kennebunk http://www.thelandingschool.org/. He went on from there to work at Portland Yacht Services (PYS) www.portlandyacht.com which is a large boat builder and repair facility. PYS helped Bruce Schwabb several years ago build his ocean racing sailboat which enabled Bruce to be the first American to race non-stop around the world. By the way, PYS sponsors the Maine Boat builders annual March show which is held in an old turn-of-the-century warehouse on Fore Street. Jeremy left PYS to take on a large boat building project at Six Rivers Marine in North Yarmouth
While at Six Rivers Marine in North Yarmouth, Jeremy worked on completing a 42' Westmack tuna fishing boat. The hull was brought down from Eastport and completed at Six Rivers Marine. The boat owner is a avid Tuna fisherman. Jeremy did some refrigeration work, fiberglass work, and woodwork. He also helped to install the GPS system. He sprayed on the exterior fiberglass compound called gelcoat which required many hours of sanding and buffing. The Westmack has an 800 h.p. Catepiller engine.
When Jeremy and his wife bought a home in Windham, they decided to pursue careers that weren't as cyclical as boat building. So they both went to work for Starbucks stores in the Portland area. Jeremy has 17 staff members which can fluctuate between 15 and 22. Jeremy looks for staff members who have positive energy and who are engaging. The summer season brings in a stampede of tourists to a facility that isn't as large and spacious as the new Falmouth store. When the Indigo Girls came to Freeport last summer, there was a line out the front door for six hours!
Jeremy told me that Starbucks' CEO Howard Schultz has recently taken the helm of Starbucks again. The company had grown rapidly and had diversified into new business lines that took the company off the mark from its original focus. The core mission of Starbucks is a cafe environment where customers can enjoy fine coffee drinks made by baristas. A barista is an Italian term for a highly skilled coffee drink maker. Italians invented the coffee cafe concept over a 100 years ago with the advent of steam milk machines. Starbucks strives to take care of its workers. Those who put in 20 hours or more each week are eligible for "Bean Stock" which consists of a 401K plan managed by Fidelity. These same workers can also apply to purchase health care insurance as well.
In an attempt to not be too long winded, I better close with saying that Jeremy one day aspires to a saiing goal that I reached back in 1992. In 1992, I sailed across the Atlantic, from Boston to Liverpool England, on the sister ship to our Coast Guard Tall Ship "Eagle" Jeremy too would like a trans-Atlantic crossing as long as he doesn't have to do a solo crossing. Yet for now, he's very happy with his Starbuck's management position in Freeport and a terrific lifestyle here in Greater Portland!
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