HERMITAGE, Pa. – A $10,000 check from the Mercer County Innovation Fund will help the founder of an emerging business determine if there’s a market for his product.

The product, Kevo Brew, is “just trying to make cold brew coffee easier and more convenient for people,” said Paul McMahon, its founder. “There aren’t a lot of ways to make cold brew coffee right now.

Cold brew coffee, unlike iced coffee, is never heated, giving it a different flavor, McMahon explained. Many people even drink it flat – without cream or sugar – which makes it healthier too.

Rod Wilt, executive director of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation, said he recalls speaking with McMahon about the product shortly after Wilt started at Penn-Northwest.

“The Mercer County Innovation Fund is a great economic development tool,” said Brian Slawin, Ben Franklin Technology Partners northwest region director and portfolio manager. “We’re going to invest in a lot of companies – Paul being now our second.”

The fund’s first investment was Advance Power and Energy in Greenville.

“Paul is going to hire people and grow the company and do great things,” Slawin said. 

It shows that everyone can invent a product, he added.

“Thanks for all of the partners for putting this capital together, and we’re working to put it on the street,” Slawin said.

McMahon’s invention replaces heat with time. Kevo uses K-cup coffee pods or coffee grounds to make cold brew coffee. A coffee enthusiast can use a Keurig machine, for example, to make hot coffee or iced coffee, but not cold brew.

“Iced coffee is just hot coffee that has been cooled down,” McMahon, a U.S. Army veteran who lives in Transfer, said. “But because the coffee is exposed to the heat, there are different kinds of flavors. A lot of people don’t like those flavors.”

McMahon, a former teacher who majored in physics in college, developed the idea during the Covid-19 pandemic. He and a friend wanted to invent something and brainstormed ideas before settling on a device to make cold brew coffee. They printed the prototype using a 3D printer and launched a Kickstarter campaign that raised about $17,500. With that money, along with the contribution from the Mercer County Innovation Fund, McMahon will determine whether there’s a market for his product. 

It’s already gotten good reviews from coffee shops in the area, he said. But because it doesn’t use heat, it takes longer to brew the coffee. 

McMahon would like to use injection molding to make the Kevo but wants to ensure there’s an interest before he invests in that expensive equipment. He’s working with a manufacturer in Erie.

The Mercer County Innovation Fund fosters the growth of technology-driven enterprises with the goal of stimulating job creation within Mercer County, according to a news release. It’s administered by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania Inc. and is supported by a collaborative network of local organizations, including Penn-Northwest Development Corporation, Shenango Valley Enterprise Zone Corporation, the city of Hermitage, Greenville Area Economic Development Corporation and the Community Hope Investment Partnership.

“These programs do actually work,” Wilt said of the fund. 

Before coming to Penn-Northwest, he served in the state legislature and wondered who benefited from those types of programs.

“A lot of people benefit,” Wilt said.

Pictured at top: From left are Mercer County Commissioner Tim McGonigle; David Grande of the Shenango Valley Enterprise Zone; Gary Gulla, assistant Hermitage city manager; Jake Rickert and Rod Wilt of Penn-Northwest Development Corporation; Paul McMahon; Brian Slawin of Ben Franklin Technology Partners; Mercer County Commissioner Bill Finley; and Gary Hinkson, Hermitage city manager.