“Your question is ‘why did you buy Cornerstone,’ right?” Mike Pace asked me with a smirk on his face as we sat down together at a table inside of Cornerstone Coffee Roasters on Third Street in downtown McMinnville.
“Well, yes,” I replied bashfully.
“I found out Cornerstone was for sale and I couldn’t believe that someone would sell this place,” Pace said. “So I jumped right on it as soon as I saw the opportunity and bought it. Haven’t looked back since.”
August 19, 2014 was the sale date Pace officially became the owner of Cornerstone. He and his business partner Jason – also a Linfield alum – have taken it upon themselves to make Cornerstone the best it can possibly be.
Pace graduated Linfield in 2005 with a Religious Studies major and a Theater minor. Up until recently, Pace was employed at Linfield’s mailroom, Withnell Commons.
“I loved working in the mailroom,” Pace said, “The people there are all so amazing. Deanne is one of my favorite people in the world. But it was three-quarters time and wasn’t paying the bills.”
Pace was searching for a fulfilling job that would make him some more money, and he couldn’t understand how anyone would pass up the opportunity to buy Cornerstone.
“It baffled me that this was even for sale,” Pace said. “It’s a staple in its community.”
Pace has always been entrepreneurial in his work. His purchasing of Cornerstone originally began with a search for somewhere to build a game store.
“I worked at Hopscotch Toys for a while,” Pace said. “I was looking there for a place to put a game store when I found out that Cornerstone was for sale.”
Pace has since brought some gaming nuances to Cornerstone.
“We play poker Sunday and Monday nights,” Pace said, “And we do Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Magic: The Gathering. We are looking for other games to add in to see what we can do to fill it up.”
Pace is working on getting a board game selection into Cornerstone that allows people to check out games to play while they hang out in the shop.
“We really just want people to be here,” Pace said. “If you come play a game and you like it, we will have it for sale in the back for you.”
Before Pace bought Cornerstone, they always hosted Friday night music performances.
“We kept that,” Pace said. “We love it. We also have open mic night the first Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m..”
Cornerstone’s open mic nights give people a chance to perform who wouldn’t normally have a venue to perform their music.
“We like it because it lets artists showcase their work,” Pace said, “But it also gets people here in our seats. That’s what we care about. People being here and having a good time.”
In addition to owning Cornerstone, Pace is also the front-of-house-manager.
“I keep track of what the employees do, what food goes out, the quality of the food, I work with the customers and keep the business moving on the outside.”
Pace’s business partner Jason is the back-of-house manager and keeps track of the money, paperwork, bills and payroll. Both of them put in over 40 hours per week in the shop to keep it running smoothly.
Pace’s advice to running a successful coffee shop can be summer up in one word: Time.
“We both put in over 40 hours per week in the shop just to keep it running smoothly,” Pace said. “Since we’re owners and managers, we put in a lot of hours.”
On top of the basic work both owners put into running Cornerstone, they also go above and beyond to make sure that every customer’s experience is impeccable.
“We make sure that there’s consistency among all of the baristas to make sure they’re making all of the drinks the same,” Pace said. “It’s about consistency and good quality product.”
Pace takes pride in every single aspect of what Cornerstone stands for and provides its customers with.
“We are the only coffee shop in the area that roasts on site,” Pace said.
Cornerstone roasts its own coffee to offer its customers the utmost fresh coffee every single day.
Cornerstone also has a sandwich bar sells pastries – all of which are made in-house and from scratch.
Pace’s very own creation – the caramel bourbon bacon cinnamon roll – can be found in Cornerstone’s pastry case.
Cornerstone attracts customers from nearly every type of demographic. From the older, retired crowd that fills the shop up in the morning, to the baby boomers having lunch midday, to the college kids doing homework in the evening.
“You really see a shift in all the ages throughout the day,” Pace said. “It’s pretty neat to watch actually.”
Pace hopes to help Cornerstone become one of the premier coffee shops in Yamhill County.
“Our goal is to make your coffee your way,” Pace said. “That’s what we as Cornerstone stand for.”
Pace has also helped instill a passion for sustainability at Cornerstone.
Over the next month Cornerstone will be completely switching their coffee supply to fair-trade.
“Fair trade coffee is very important to us,” Pace said. “I’ll sleep better at night when I know my coffee doesn’t come from a six-year-old picking coffee out in Vietnam.”
Pace wants the peace of mind knowing that Cornerstone’s coffee will come from farmers who were given a fair wage for their product.
“We’re working on getting all recyclable things, bringing reusable cups in, everything we can just to make the Earth happy with us.”
Cornerstone is currently in the process of bringing in reusable cups that customers can bring in and get a discount with just for helping the shop remain sustainable.
Pace and all of the Cornerstone employees care a lot about being responsible with their resources.
“We just don’t feel the need to fill the landfill with garbage if we can help it,” Pace said. “Granted, with any food service there is going to be food waste, you can’t help that, but we can help control it and curb it.”
Pace finds himself very driven by people and customer service, which is very evident in the way he runs Cornerstone.
“I love to be with people and make them smile and laugh. That’s what I’m passionate about,” Pace said. “I’m just now learning to be passionate about coffee. It’s an interesting business for me.”
Pace also has his Master’s of Divinity degree, or, the degree to be a pastor.
“I really enjoy the hours I put in at the coffee shop,” Pace said, “But I do also enjoy ministry quite a bit.”
Pace currently does ministry for college students on the Linfield campus.
“It’s one of my favorite things I do in my life,” Pace said. “I don’t know if I want to do it professionally ever, but I am passionate about ministry.”
Pace’s favorite part of his journey in managing and owning Cornerstone is working with his crew of employees.
“I’ve never worked anywhere that had a crew better than Cornerstone Coffee,” Pace said. “Every one of them is top notch, amazing to work with, is fun to talk to, and has an interesting life story. Seeing them interact with the customers and how they remember everyone’s name and their drink, it’s just so impressive to me that they care like that.”
Pace wants Linfield students to know that Cornerstone is always open to suggestions and he or any of the other employees would love to hear what people want to see in the shop.
“We will always have a 20 percent Linfield discount for students and faculty with their ID on them,” Pace said.
Pace raised the student discount from 10 percent to 20, and also extended it to include students from Chemeketa.
“People who are working on bettering themselves need a break,” Pace said, “And we are offering a place where people can have that. That’s what we give people.”