Mike Ferguson

Senior Consultant

Mike Ferguson is a Senior Consultant, and oversees marketing and communications, for Coffee Solutions. He specializes in content development, project management, and strategy for Coffee Solutions clients. Mike entered the coffee industry in 1998 when he joined the staff of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) where, over nine years, he served as Marketing Communication Director and ultimately Chief of Staff.

As part of the executive management team at SCAA, Mike handled a wide range of matters of institutional importance and oversaw all non-financial operations of the association headquarters, including management of staff, administrative functions, policies and procedures and planning. He directly supervised 12 employees and numerous outside vendors while staffing the association's board of directors. Mike managed all the association's communications and media relations and has been quoted in dozens of industry and consumer publications in his role as spokesman for the specialty coffee industry.

Mike received his Masters Degree in writing from Saint Mary's College of California in 1998 and has used his skill as a writer to author articles for several coffee trade magazines. He has been an educational session presenter at Coffee Fest, the NASCORE coffee trade show, the Retail Bakers Association, and the World Tea Expo. He has been a guest lecturer on the coffee industry at the University of California Irvine.

Cirriculum Vitae for Mike Ferguson

Employment

Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea Company, Seattle, WA, 2007-2008, Director of Operations

Specialty Coffee Association of America, Long Beach, CA 1998-2007

• Chief of Staff (2005-2007)
• Chief Communications Officer (2003-2005)
• Marketing Communications Director (1998-2003)

Opus Unlimited, Los Gatos, CA 1996-1998, Content, Strategy, and Project Management Consultant

United Way of Santa Clara County, San Jose, CA 1995-1996, Allocation and Evaluation Specialist

The Mental Health Association of Orange County, Santa Ana, CA 1991-1995

• Director of Programs (1994-1995)
• Homeless Program Coordinator (1993-1994)
• Volunteer and Vocational Programs Coordinator (1992-1993)
• Homeless Program Counselor (1991-1992)

"I believe Mike's tremendous success and enormous contribution to the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) sprang from his innate ability to personally identify with and connect to the coffee industry and the unique role in which it is served by SCAA. Not only did he enjoy the product, becoming one of specialty coffee's most prolific advocates, he also became close personal friends with many of SCAA's members. Their concerns became his concerns; their worries became his worries; and their success became his stories about them. He managed a very inter-connected and inter-active marketing communications program with great success."

-Ted Lingle, Executive Director, Coffee Quality Institute
Former Executive Director, Specialty Coffee Association of America, 1993-2007