HOLLAND, Mich.
Small business owner Jack Groot hoped to see his credit card processing fees go down with the enactment of the Durbin Act, a piece of the Dodd-Frank Amendment meant to reduce debit transaction fees.
Instead they went up.
So Groot, founder and owner of JP’s Coffee, a 20-year business in Holland, Mich., did what any innovative small business owner would do; he found a way to not only eliminate the extra fees, but save even more.
Groot’s decision not only saved him 43 percent on his processing fees, but his discussion on the subject in a LinkedIn forum got him noticed by the founders of the World Tea Expo leading him to being invited to speak at the World Tea Expo, the tea industry’s largest premium tea conference, held in Las Vegas.
Groot's class "Credit & Debit Card Fees: How I Slashed my Fees by 43%" will show retailers how to assess merchant companies, their processing plans and how to pay the least possible amount in fees.
Groot will teach this class twice, first at the World Tea Expo’s “New Business Boot Camp” (NBBC), a 2-day intense workshop for people going into the tea business, as well as during the regular conference schedule and available for all conference attendees.
Groot has also been asked to be included as the sole coffee panelist in a keynote conference seminar entitled, "Will Tea Ever be as Big as Coffee? A Panel Discussion with Market Leaders."
Other panelists include Charles Cain, VP of Tazo Merchant & Operations, tea division of Starbucks; Joseph Cugine, President of Argo Tea; and David De Candia, Director of Tea at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. George Jage, Founder of World Tea Expo and President of World Tea Media will moderate the discussion.