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By ED FLETCHER edf@leader.net
Tuesday, February 08, 2000     Page: 12B

WILKES-BARRE – Ahhh. `Tis the dream of many a snowbound office worker:
Access to coffee, juice and bagels without venturing into the winter weather.
   
Workers of the Two Public Square building in downtown Wilkes-Barre soon
might have the in-house option for a morning fix and lunchtime fare, thanks to
assistance from the Luzerne County Business Development Loan Program.
    Jennifer Roman and Debra Hindmarsh plan to open Center City Cafe within the
five-story building by the end of March. The project is funded in part with an
$18,500 loan from the county.
   
Total financing for the project is $37,000, with half coming from the
county and half from a bank, said John Matusek, director of the county’s
community development program.
   
The loans will be used to purchase equipment needed to open the cafe,
Matusek said.
   
Roman and Hindmarsh plan to offer morning quick eats like bagels, pastries,
muffins, juice and coffee. The cafe also will sell sandwiches and soups for
lunch.
   
The two hope the more-than 500 people who work in the building will head to
the cafe when hunger strikes, said Roman’s husband, Perry, who will help the
women with the business.
   
The building houses the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and
Industry, Leadership Wilkes-Barre, the state Department of Environmental
Protection and the Luzerne County Community College Continuing Education
Division.
   
“We’re gonna make it a cozy place for them,” Perry Roman said.
Call Fletcher at 829-7161.