Overview
PR Works developed and executed a campaign strategy that took Wavelength Coffee Roasters, a first-year sustainable coffee roaster in Shirley, MA, from a single Boston Globe feature to sustained coverage across Boston broadcast, regional dailies, the national coffee trade press, and more than a dozen podcasts — in roughly three months.
Background
Jim and Deanna Varney, of Bolton, MA, founded Wavelength Coffee Roasters in late 2025. Jim spent more than two decades in industrial design and engineering, rising to partner at a product development firm serving the biotech, life sciences, and consumer goods markets before selling the company in 2024. Rather than retire, he and Deanna — a former educator with a background in library science — set out to rethink how coffee is sourced, roasted, and packaged.
Wavelength Coffee Roasters was the result.
Jim and Deanna built Wavelength on a three-pronged sustainability model.
- Coffee beans sourced directly from growers experimenting with agroforestry and mycorrhizal soil systems.
- All beans roasted on an electric, solar-powered air roaster, likely the only one operating in New England
- Coffee beans packages in fully recyclable steel cans rather than foil bags that end up in landfills.
The end result? A coffee that comes out is clean and ultra-smooth, with no bitter aftertaste.
In March 2026, the Boston Globe profiled the couple and their roastery. Website traffic climbed. Sales followed.
The Game Plan
Landing a Boston Globe feature in your first year is like a new actor taking a part in a small, low-budget film that goes on to win an Academy Award. The prize is real. Nobody takes it back. But the distance between a celebrated debut and an actual career is depth — a second role, a third, a body of work that tells people you belong here.
The Goal
Build that depth. Wavelength needed to reach consumers, wholesale buyers, and the coffee trade repeatedly — and to do it through outlets where nobody knew the company’s name. There was a practical problem to solve first. More than six months into business, Wavelength had never formally announced itself. No launch release, no press kit, no media list, no follow-up engine.
How PR Works worked
Working from the company’s own story, we developed the following materials and programs:
- A launch release announcing the business, establishing the three-pronged sustainability story as the frame for every pitch that followed
- A full press kit — founder bios, fast facts, 10 pre-built feature angles, and sample interview questions sorted by topic
- A second release announcing the Revival Cafe and Kitchen vendor agreement, written as both a partnership announcement and an open call to other cafés and retailers
- A three-message podcast drip campaign through PodPitch to secure appearance on local, regional and national podcasts.
- Segmented media lists covering regional dailies, Boston broadcast newsrooms, and the coffee trade press
- Personal follow-up by phone and email with editors and producers
Coverage
The campaign generated coverage across broadcast, print, digital, trade, and podcast:
- Broadcast —
- CBS Boston (WBZ, Ch. 4) produced a segment on Wavelength’s renewable-energy roasting. https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/video/massachusetts-company-uses-renewable-energy-to-roast-coffee/
- WCVB (Ch. 5), Made in Massachusetts segment with Doug Meehan.
- Regional press —
- A hometown feature in the Sentinel & Enterprise
- Metrowest Daily News feature, which brought a Gannett-syndicated reporter and videographer/photographer brought to the roastery. Story, with video and a photo gallery, appeared in WickedLocal across Massachusetts. Roastery photography was distributed nationally through Reuters Connect for the USA Today Network.
- Worcester Business Journal
- Trade press — Daily Coffee News, Perfect Daily Grind, and Tea & Coffee Trade Journal — the three titles specialty buyers actually read.
- Podcast and radio — 13 bookings, including Radio Entrepreneurs, Winning Business Radio, Explain Boston to Me, Brewsing Banter, and Off The Menu.
- Release distribution — More than 90 published links across 55-plus sites.
Conclusion
In roughly three months, Wavelength went from a company with no press materials to one with a press kit, an active media list, coverage in every coffee trade title that matters, and two Boston television segments. Website traffic rose and online sales rose dramatically following coverage.
“PR Works — it works! We recently began working with Steve & Joe and have seen a big uptick in business, particularly after getting Wavelength a placement on WCVB Ch. 5’s “Made In Massachusetts” segment! They have been great about promoting our business and getting us in front of our target audience. They have a lot of contacts in the industry which has been really helpful. The press kits and outreach documents they have prepared for us have been well-written and reflect our company’s business and mission in a clear and professional manner. Highly recommend, these guys know what they are doing!”
— Deanna Varney, Co-Founder, Wavelength Coffee Roasters
The Globe feature was the award. Everything since is the body of work.
Final Conclusion
PR, when done properly, Works!
Ready to build on your best story? Drop a line or give us a call at 781-582-1061.
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