Off the Clock

OffTHE Clock

MARK LINDERMAN

BY MATT SKOUFALOS

As the MRI department manager at Overlook Medical Center in Summit, New Jersey, Mark Linderman has a number of responsibilities across all departmental operations, from imaging and scheduling to patient safety, payroll and staff training.

“We currently run two magnets seven days a week, averaging about 11,000 scans per year, and we are currently in the evaluation phase of expanding to another system as we continue to grow our practice,” Linderman said. “We are a community hospital doing university hospital-level imaging. We stay ahead of the trend to offer our patients the best possible outcomes.”

Linderman, like many medical professionals, is a huge fan of coffee – so much so, that he developed a reputation in his family for being particular about what he drinks. But during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, compulsory business closures throughout his home state of New Jersey meant that Linderman was frequently out of luck trying to get a decent cup of coffee. So the imaging professional decided he had no other recourse but to try to roast his own beans.

“I was such a picky coffee fanatic that when I couldn’t get what I liked, I set out to do it myself,” Linderman said. “The first time I tried roasting in my kitchen, the whole house filled with the aroma of coffee and chocolate, and then as the bean hit first crack, the whole house filled with smoke. My wife started screaming, ‘What are you doing now?’ ”

The pandemic had also made conditions in the hospital more difficult than usual. Non-essential services had been temporarily shut down, and with all resources being devoted to mitigating the impact on emergency services, staffing assignments changed almost daily. All that work was made more difficult for want of good coffee.

“Wherever you’re needed, you had to go in the hospital,” Linderman said. “One day you’re doing MRI; the next day, some of my techs were in the morgue. Then, they were feeding patients. So, to bring a bit of happiness to their day, I brought beans and a grinder to work.”

“I would grind, brew and package small bags of coffee and donate them to my fellow health care workers,” he said. “I tried to share what I was doing to bring some happiness to people. Once they smelled those beans, the aroma would get them, and then came the funny smile on their face.”

“My new hobby to find good coffee started out just for me, but as I started bringing it to work and sharing it with other people, the need to share became overwhelming,” Linderman said.

Armed with a 90-gram tabletop roaster and some Yankee ingenuity, Linderman’s subsequent attempts started to hone a little closer to the mark – so much so that he

Mark Linderman’s search for a quality cup of coffee led to the launch of South Side Coffee Company.

began bringing samples of his home roast into work. His wife followed suit, and then, as the coffee found an audience, he realized he’d need to upgrade his operation.

So, Linderman purchased a miniaturized commercial roaster that allowed him to standardize his processes by tracking the roasting profile over subsequent batches, and dialing in the temperature to allow for greater consistency. As things continued to grow, he attended a wholesale coffee school, and eventually roasting school, to learn about the roasting industry and more about commercial-scale roasting.

“I learned tasting, density of the beans, moisture content, how you can create profiles to bring out the best flavors of the beans,” Linderman said. “Through trial and error, and over time, I developed what works best for me.”

“My wife, Susana, who used to call me a coffee snob, is now a coffee snob herself,” he said. “Once you get that taste of freshly roasted coffee, it’s hard to go back.”

When the family was workshopping names for the business, they settled on “South Side Coffee Company.” Mark Linderman grew up on the south side of Bloomfield, New Jersey, and the family now lives on the south side of Scotch Plains, New Jersey.

The company takes its branding inspiration from their family heritage: its dominant image began as that of a linden tree, their namesake, with the blooms replaced by coffee beans. Markings on the coffee beans are Mark’s initials in the Taino language of Puerto Rico, the land of his ancestry. And the red bird atop its boughs is a nod to his departed father, whose passing was marked by that of a cardinal that appeared in their grief.

“Happiness – Roasted” is its motto, which Mark Linderman said is symbolic of his intention to bring people together by sharing a bit of happiness through freshly roasted coffee.

South Side Coffee Company works with importers who source beans from Jerico, Colombia; Chiapas, Mexico; Minas Gerais, Brazil; Huehuetenango, Guatemala; and East Timor. The business aims at a fair-trade, organic model, and is transitioning to biodegradable packaging to pursue a course of sustainability.

After two years of getting the business up and running, Mark now roasts on a full-scale commercial roaster, and the Lindermans are aiming to grow South Side Coffee Company into a storefront location, thanks to a trial run at local farmers markets and community events.

“We hope to grow the business into a European Style café/coffee bar, where I can roast in-house, and serve my community the best coffee available to them,” he said. “I want customers who take the time to support us to be able to brew their best at home.”

While Mark roasts, Susana, who is herself an ultrasound technologist and the radiology assistant manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, helps package and ship the product to customers. Their three children, who range in age from 13 to 18, also pitch in.

“I think it’s wonderful that we’ve started a family business,” Mark Linderman said. “We want to see where it goes. My kids tell me that they’re very proud of me, since I’ve actually accomplished what I set out to do!” •