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40 Tea & Coffee Trade Journal | www.teaandcoffee.net States, or the United Nations?" The SCAA Board has determined to let the membership vote on the issue of merger. This is a good thing, which under the deeply flawed SCAA by-laws the board of directors doesn't have to do. A two-thirds affirmative vote of the eligi- ble voting membership of the Association should be required for a merger to be adopted. A two-thirds majority would send a clear strong message that merger is the will of the American specialty indus- try. The Board has not yet assented to the idea of a super-majority being required for merger to be approved. An email to incoming SCAA president Ben Pitts may help the Board consent to this two-thirds majority to sustain the merger idea. Left to Fend for Themselves My coffee political bias has always been on the side of the small independent American roaster and his survival and success. The idea of a worldwide specialty coffee trade association at once fascinates because it will be a seat of enormous power. Globalization of the association makes certain that its focus will shift from the U.S. toward Asia (where the future is) according to the SCAA executive director. The independent American roasters will be left to fend for themselves by the very association that was created to support American specialty coffee. The membership of SCAA, as in most American institutions, is apathetic and indifferent to its leadership until a crisis shakes them from their complacency. All of us–members, new beans, leadership, and pioneers–must understand that change is inevitable. If we want change for the better, we'd better be vigilant to what is happening and working toward it with constancy. As for the generation that founded SCAA, there is nothing that will date us faster than believing that the younger generations have nothing of interest or merit to contribute to the discussion of the direction our trade association should be taking. By virtue of taking their presence in the ranks of work- ing coffee people and paying their associa- tion dues, they have earned their place at the table of American coffee ideas, and dreams. We can enlighten them with historical per- spective, temper their youthful enthusiasm with our earned wisdom, and wave them on their way into the future. For, in the last analysis, the future is the eternal province of the young, and the young in spirit. I hold my own opinions, but my con- cern in this institutional change of direc- tion is in the process, not the change per se. I believe the membership alone has the legitimate moral power to take the associ- ation in whatever direction is in its own best interest for its own future. With a pending membership vote, all stakehold- ers have an opportunity to reach out to the membership with their ideas on merger with SCAE. It's the American way. Donald N. Schoenholt, a founding father of the specialty coffee movement, served as inaugural year chief executive of both SCAA (1982) and Roasters Guild (1999). He can be found daily in the roasting room of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Gillies Coffee Co. Donald may be reached at: coffeeman@gilliescoffee.com. The name says it all! • QUALITY • DEPENDABILITY • RELIABILITY The industry standard and the preferred faucet for coffee and beverage dispensing. Tomlinson Industries Tel: 216/587-3400 or 800/945-4589 (U.S. & Canada) Fax: 216/587-6192 or 800/945-9869 (U.S. & Canada) www.tomlinsonind.com World Class, Worldwide ©1998 Tomlinson Industries TOMLINSON_BW_TC SEP 05 8/9/05 1:36 PM guest column: scaa & scae proposed merger Please contact Clara Malmros: EMAIL: cm@seaislandcoffee.com | TEL: +44 207 735 4473 www.seaislandcoffee.com Serving the Micro-Roaster Community as Green Coffee Break-Bulk Distributors since 2007 St Helena, Kopi Luwak, Jamaica Blue Mountain, Panamanian Geisha, Hawaiian Kona, Jacu Bird, Galapagos, Puerto Rico, Yemen, Ethiopia, and many more . . .