Thank you for all the suggestions so far! I've been trying to make connections with local roasters. I was able to visit one roaster and I'm in the process of setting up a time to visit another. The options in Western PA are kind of limited, but I'm willing to relocate if I find something outside my area. Unfortunately I don't have the money or the space at the moment to invest in my own roaster.

As for reading materials I have Scott Rao's book on roasting and have been working my way through it. I'm thinking of also ordering Rob Hoos's book "Modulating the flavor profile of coffee". Are there any other good books out there on roasting and is Roast magazine worth subscribing to?

Bebop wrote:Hi everyone I was wondering if anyone knew of some good places to search for a roasting apprenticeship? Hours of googling have unfortunately not yielded many results. I am interested in pursuing a career in coffee roasting, but it seems that most positions require that the applicant already have a few years of roasting experience under their belt.

Hi, I don't have much useful experience in the field of roasting coffee even though I have read quite a bit about it and recently bought a small roaster. Funny thing is once you do purchase a roaster or are put into the situation, you will find it will take time for what you have read to make sense. And I'm sure it will over time. There are so many coffee varieties and roasting methods to deal with.
What is really important to you at this point is your reliance on the business owner or manager to teach you the skills and knowledge in a structured form. This reliance puts you at their mercy and you may need to be skilled in negotiating your time and efforts without being taken advantage of. You will need to evaluate the communication skills of the potential "teacher" as to their ability and Willingness to share information. Set a timeline for your milestones and discuss them with your potential employer. You don't want to be the delivery guy or gofer for the next 10yrs.
There is no such college supplemented course as with other trade here and presumably the same for you. You will need to supplement experience with your own reading and discussion on this forum and others. Coffee roasting is constantly evolving and you will keep learning.
Good luck!

George Howell in Ma. and New Harvest in RI have openings for production staff posted on their sites.

While it would indeed be disastrous to train someone to become a competitor, there is nothing stopping anyone else from becoming one. This has been tge fundamental of most family businesses, however there are obvious limitations.Taking a lesson from the corporate franchises, on can always take measures to protect their business secrets and still train staff in generic production-line methods. You could control contact with suppliers, conceal origin of beans etc. You could for example give any bean another name and apply what profile is desired.

hankua wrote:Wrecking Ball, recently posted an entry level position roasting position on Twitter. One way to look at this dilemma is from the business owner's standpoint. He's training someone who is going to basically understand all the blends and profiles critical to his coffee. If all his beans are coming from RoyalNY for instance, there's nothing stopping you from opening up down the road and undercutting his business. He could be hiring a great employee or potential competitor, need to be careful/selective.

Except that a successful coffee roasting business depends more on business, logistics and cupping skills than rote repetition of blend recipes and roasting profiles. Blends are transient, depending on annual crop results. Roasting profiles vary with each new crop. In 30 years in the coffee industry I've only personally known 2 people who started out burning beans and graduated into successful, long term coffee business owners. I've known many more who entered from outside the industry then succeeded because they had excellent prior business skills. Roasting coffee isn't that difficult, running a profitable coffee business is.

Alan

Well said Alan.

And here is the successful example. Become a real barista... for 1/3 the pay...

Thank you all again for the suggestions and job posting links. I've applied to quite a few production assistant/ roasting apprentice positions in the past few weeks. I'm actually in the process of setting up an interview time in Madison, WI for a position. I've also been able to meet up with one of Pittsburgh's other roasters and talk with him about the industry. In addition, I'll be able to check out their new roasting facility once they have it up and running within the next week or 2. I've also been learning a ton from all the the great information throughout the home roasting forum!