Jeffrey Bates was a tool and die worker at a local factory in Pennsylvania. The owner of the company saw an ad in the Wall Street Journal for a recall of 200,000 coffee makers. The job would take at least a year to complete and all that was needed was the personnel to complete the service. Jeffrey, a shop supervisor, was chosen to be the manager for this new venture. At the time of completion the client, Krups, asked if the entire team would stay on and continue with other services, mainly refurbishing and handling vendor returns. The owner turned down the opportunity but suggested they talk with Jeffrey and see if he wanted to take it on as his own. He did and Bates Enterprises Inc was born in 1988.

The president of Krups at that time was Michael Kramm. Mr. Kramm was a mentor to Jeffrey as a new business owner. Unfortunately years later, Krups was bought out by another company and Mr. Kramm was relieved of his duties. Following a number of company buy outs, the governing body owning Krups decided to no longer use Bates Enterprises and selected a service center in Mexico.

It was in 1998 that Mr. Kramm resurfaced and presented Jeffrey with a new opportunity. He had developed his own Fully Automatic Espresso Machine and was in need of a service center to handle individual customer machines. From that moment on the company, Capresso, flourished with its newest service to customers, quick and quality servicing from Bates Enterprises Inc.

Starting in 2001 Nespresso USA, a Nestle company, began to increase its focus on developing their brand in the US. They were beginning to grow and knew they needed a quality service center to handle their machines and treat their customers as they do, with respect and attention to detail. Nespresso machines are designed and manufactured in Switzerland in the same factory as Capresso machines. It didn’t take long for one president to ask another, “Who handles your servicing in the US?” “Bates Enterprises Inc,” of course!