Q&A with Ben Klipsch, owner of first Scooter’s Coffee in Evansville
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With nearly 700 locations across the U.S., Nebraska-based Scooter’s Coffee opened its first location in Evansville on Dec. 13. The drive-thru coffeehouse on Diamond Avenue near Stringtown Road features hot drinks, iced drinks, blenders, smoothies, teas and food.
Ben Klipsch, owner of the Diamond Avenue location, said it is the first of two he’ll operate in Evansville. He also plans to add four more locations in the region. Klipsch spoke with Inside INdiana Business about his latest entrepreneurial adventure.
Tell me about your background before you opened Scooter’s Coffee in Evansville.
Right out of college, I went to work at AmeriQual, which is an industrial manufacturing environment, which is what I studied to do at Purdue [University] and had a great experience. I spent 20 years there.
I learned a lot about the pursuit of operational excellence: do what you say you’re supposed to do, make products, quality assurance, the accounting, the inventory, all those different functions. I also learned how to do strategic investments and how to look at those things and think about that and also learned a little bit about being able to measure those things.
But part of my DNA is about entrepreneurship, so it made sense for me to think about doing my own thing. I started to look and connect with different people in my network about businesses that were out there and available and ventured away from Ameriqual and started doing some other things.
What did you do after Ameriqual?
I am the chief executive officer of several companies now, and I’m president at multiple locations. I’m the chief executive officer of [a regional group of] Home Instead [locations], and we have a president who operates five different locations in southwest Indiana primarily. We have one location up in Kokomo.
Just a wonderful company. Great learning experience, being able to provide a truly needed service to our communities, being able to take care of our seniors or people with challenges to stay at home. We help them with non-medical needs, basically the activities of daily living. I’ve been doing that for about 15 years now.
I also operate lumber companies. We have a lumber company in Evansville where we kiln and dry hardwood lumber, and we also operate a sawmill in Terre Haute.
How did you get interested in Scooter’s Coffee?
I was at a conference about two years ago for Home Instead talking with some guys and Scooter’s got brought up. They talked about how Home Instead is based out of Omaha, Nebraska, and so is Scooter’s. So there was a little bit of connection. At the same time, my sons, who are just entering the workforce, one of them was working as a barista. So there was a connection there.
I saw the ability to be able to put [my sons] on a path with a great group that is expanding. [Scooter’s is] doing well and trying to grow their number of locations. So that’s how it all came about. I just started looking into it and had a great experience with the people at Scooter’s and just kept following it down, and it just kept building and building.
Currently, we have development plans for six different locations, all in southwest Indiana. We’re looking at Evansville and surrounding smaller rural towns. That’s another thing that Scooters has picked up on—they can fit very well in smaller communities that don’t have a lot of options. We’re looking at Mount Vernon, Princeton, Jasper and Boonville.
What makes Scooter’s Coffee unique compared to other coffee businesses?
Their core values. They talk about integrity, love, humility and courage. Being able to have a group of people who have a set of values that are similar to mine is great.
That whole synergy and being able to work with them and they are vertically integrated all the way through. All the way back through to the farmers in South America where they’re buying their coffee beans. They have a direct relationship with them, and they’re very consistent with those farmers so they provide a very consistent product for us. All the beans are shipped up to Omaha where they control the roasting process, and it continues to flow from there.
Why is Scooter’s Coffee drive-thru only?
Don and Linda Eckles are the founders, and they’ve tried lots of different versions. They’ve had drive-thru only. They’ve had a combination of drive-thru and dine-in. They’ve had dine-in only. Over the past 20 years, they’ve learned that people really want to get their coffee and get on with their morning and on with their day. They’ve remained very focused on that, and I like that.
Sometimes companies get diverted into other shiny objects that are around them, and it takes away from their focus. I appreciate that [the Eckles are] staying focused. The building we put together and the way it’s laid out is all about a fast, good quality product, amazing people and being able to deliver it again quickly. We try to get you through the line within three minutes from the time you order to the time you get your drink.
Why did you select Diamond Avenue near Stringtown Road as your first location?
A great group of people help you look at site locations. The Evansville area is slated for five locations. I have responsibility for two, and another owner has responsibility for three. I had to stay west of U.S. 41, and we saw Diamond Ave. as an opportunity. Lots of cars in the morning heading into work, coming from the west side into town, so good access, a nice sized lot for us that helped traffic move through very quickly. That’s how we ended up with that site.
What are your goals for your coffee business in the first year?
I’ve done a lot of different things, but I had not really done this kind of [quick service restaurant] type of development, so it took me a little while to kind of get my bearings. We have five of the six locations targeted, so it’s really about how quickly we can get them developed. My goals are for me and my sons, Owen and Dylan, to try to get those open within a year or two.
Anything else you’d like to add?
It’s a lot of fun to do. I have really enjoyed it. I enjoy working with my sons. To be able to get them in the group and watch them develop their business skills and things like that and work with them has been pretty fun. I know they’re excited about it, too.