2019 PERSON OF THE YEAR
Nick Bayer | Founder and CEO, Saxbys
Nick Bayer has always been in the business of bringing people together, whether it’s as one of Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Most Admired CEOs” or as a consummate team captain since Little League. So when he created Saxbys in 2005, Nick never really considered it to be a coffee company — instead, it’s a social impact company fueled by amazing food, beverage and hospitality. Saxbys has since grown from one corner café to a 30-unit, Philadelphia-based business with a singular mission: Make Life Better.
For Nick Bayer, “making life better” began by fostering an O.D.D (outgoing, detail-oriented, and disciplined) team, committed to the betterment of the communities it serves and aligned by their shared entrepreneurial spirit and Saxbys’ core values. Today, that team spans over 500 members across the Northeast that represent the change-makers of tomorrow. To that point, Bayer introduced Saxbys’ pioneering Experiential Learning Program (ELP) in 2015 in partnership with Drexel University — the nation’s first entirely student-run cafe where students earn full academic credit and wages through a university cooperative education program. Bayer’s vision for the program is to embolden the next generation of entrepreneurs, providing undergrad students with tangible experience as a supplement to traditional classroom learning. In three short years, one ELP cafe has blossomed to eight, with several more planned to open by the end of 2018.
Nick is currently the Entrepreneur in Residence at Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, an adjunct professor at Drexel University and the Executive in Residence at Temple University’s Fox School of Business. He serves on the Board of The Franklin Institute, Big Brothers Big Sisters Independence Region, the Community College of Philadelphia, Drexel University’s Close School of Entrepreneurship and Drexel’s Steinbright Career Development Center, as well as being a Corporate Council Member for the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
ABOUT SAXBYS
Founded in 2005 by Nick Bayer, Saxbys is a hospitality and coffee company. Each cafe is an uplifting environment filled with friendly faces, delicious drinks and exceptional food to fuel the day’s possibilities. With a core mission to “Make Life Better,” Saxbys brews real change in the communities it serves, while nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit
in team members who aspire to be make an impactful difference. In 2015, Saxbys launched its pioneering Experiential Learning Program to introduce exclusively student-run cafes to university campuses, complementing classroom learning with tangible experiences. Currently, seven Experiential Learning Program locations exist across eight campuses with partners including Drexel University, Millersville University, Temple University, La Salle University, West Chester University, Penn State University, and Saint Joseph’s University.
