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FOAM NEWS STEAMING UP AROUND THE COFFEE WORLD 1ST-LINE'S NEW LOCATION INCLUDES STATE-OF-THE-ART TRAINING CENTER New Jersey-based 1st-line Equipment has moved to a new location. "We moved for a few reasons," says 1st-line's Jim Piccinich. "The primary reason was to reduce our cost from a lease agreement to ownership of the facility. This has led to a two-third reduction in monthly warehouse/ office space costs. The second reason was that the new space was a brand new building, which allowed us to customize the space for our use. The third reason was the new building was more energy efficient with insulated outer walls that are rated for Category 3 hurricanes. The final reason was electrical power. The new building afforded us plentiful electrical power with the opportunity to go green by placing solar panels on the building's roof. " Though the company is staying in the city of Freehold, where they have built a reputation and relationship with coffee professionals in the area as well as across the country, 1st-line's new facility affords the company new options for outreach and training. "Our new space includes a more efficient design to grow our business and increase our productivity with current staffing levels. In our history, 1st-line has never had to lay off staff due to a lack of work," says Piccinich. "We will also have a small training center for those that are new to making espresso. Once complete, we will have the ability to offer personal training sessions. The beautiful maple cabinetry and solid quartz countertops, found in the training center were manufactured in North Carolina. We are outfitting the training center with an Elektra Kappa 2 group espresso machine, a Mazzer Robur espresso grinder, and a Mazzer Super Jolly espresso grinder. The walls will be outfitted with posters from the SCAA as well as popular industry posters. In addition, we will have a demonstration area for select home, office, and commercial espresso machines and grinders." 1st-line's former facility held about 496 pallets, while the new location will accommodate more than 500 pallets, as well as 125 picking shelves for items with less than pallet quantities. "The new space will allow us to better organize our products as well as provide a superior layout design for storage, picking, and packing operations," says Piccinich, who adds that 1st-line looks forward to growing its roasting division in the company's new space. "The new space will allow us to better organize our products as well as provide a superior layout design for storage, picking and packaging operations," says Jim Piccinich of 1st-line Equipment, which recently moved its New Jersey-based operations to a larger location, complete with training center.