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Slim's Koffee Shak

By Tiffany Tuell / Ttuell@sierrastar.com

(Updated: Thursday, March 10, 2011, 11:44 AM)

Coffee, tea, free Wi-Fi and a friendly atmosphere make up Slim's Koffee Shak in North Fork, and the new coffee shop celebrated its grand opening Monday.

Owner Scott O'Brian Marsh and Mike Allen transformed the shop from a pink-walled building with no bathroom to a cozy red-walled, wheelchair-accessible coffee house complete with a new bathroom, a large, flat-screen television and a free-to-use computer and printer.

Food and coffee are being purchased locally, and Marsh hopes to cover the walls with art from local artists.

But it's not just all about a good cup of joe and the shop's amenities, Marsh said. It's more about helping the community.

Although fairly new to North Fork, Marsh, who moved from San Francisco because of family, has already made the North Fork community home.

"My motivation for opening the shop was to give it all back to the community," Marsh said. "Our priority here is the community. We sell hospitality first, coffee second."

He plans on giving 10% of all profits to the Koffee Shak Community Fund -- a fund to help revitalize the town of North Fork.

The community fund's first project is to start a Junior Chamber of Commerce, Marsh said, to involve the youth and expose them to business dealings.

"Hopefully, that will spur some entrepreneurial spirit in town," he said. "We're looking at awarding an entrepreneur grant to help a start-up business."

Marsh is a director for the North Fork Chamber and recently wrote a portion of a Chukchansi grant proposal asking for matching funds for the junior chamber.

With North Fork unemployment high, Marsh hopes employment opportunities with benefits at Slim's Koffee Shak, combined with the community fund, will be beneficial to residents.

"I think the hardest part about opening the shop here in North Fork was not being able to hire everybody," Marsh said.,He received 40 applications but was only able to hire six employees. "If I can cover my costs and help the employees here reach their goals, I'm cool with that. I'm really focused on making this spot a resource for the whole community to use."

Marsh said none of this could have been done without help from community members who were there everyday to help out as well as support from District 5 Supervisor Tom Wheeler and Madera County.

Business hours are from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.