Title: Co-owner
Company: Popnotch Goods
Location: Michigan
Education: Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing/Marketing Management, General, Minor in Sports Management and Kinesiology, Calvin University (2017)
Career History: Owner, Popnotch Goods (2022-Present); Customer Relations Specialist, Key Accounts, Continental Battery Systems (2020-2021); NA Category Analyst, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Gordon Food Service (2019-2020); Associate Category Manager and NA Category Analyst, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Gordon Food Service (2018-2019); Category Assistant and NA Category Analyst, Fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Gordon Food Service (2017-2018); Category Management Analyst Intern, Gordon Food Service (2017); Trade Book Assistant, Calvin University Campus Store (2013-2017); Team Member, Calvin University Campus Store (2015-2016); Marketing Intern, Continental Battery Systems (2015)
Patrick Avila, Co-owner at Popnotch Goods, has been recognized as a Marquis Emerging Leader for their contributions and achievements in the field of food services.
Since 2017, Mr. Avila was active at Gordon Food Service, a large distributor that served restaurants and health care facilities, starting out as a category management analyst intern and advancing through roles to NA Category Analyst for fresh fruits and vegetables within three years. In this capacity, he gained years of experience in setting up programs and collaborating with store teams, which comprised 175 stores. But in 2020, when COVID-19 hit, the restaurant industry was severely impacted, leading to widespread layoffs and furloughs. As he waited six months for the situation to improve, he realized he’d been set in his ways at a corporate job and when things started to spiral out of his control, he had to take charge of his own future rather than rely on someone else to dictate his path.
Mr. Avila sought out an essential job, finding work as a customer relations specialist for Continental Battery Systems for about a year. But during that time, he was building on the opportunity to break away from corporate life and create something for himself and his family. With a newfound mentality, he developed a business plan for a popcorn brand in West Michigan, full of unique flavors that people had never seen before. Greatly inspired by his grandfather, an entrepreneur who started his own furniture business, he took notice of a successful popcorn shop that had been operating for 30 years in his family’s small farm town in Momence, Illinois, a rural community with a population of about 3,000 people.
In addition, Mr. Avila’s father-in-law was a corn and soybean farmer. He himself helped plant the kernels, having familiarity with seeds, tractors, and the logistics of farming, including watering systems, chemicals, and all aspects of the agricultural process. As a result, in 2022, he and a business partner opened Popnotch Goods, a small boutique shop that plants, harvests, pops, flavors, bags, and distributes its own niche gourmet product. He and his wife are active attendees of three different farmers’ markets every week to engage with the community; they participate in the market and established a presence in the Saugatuck community along the lakeshores of West Michigan. Instead of focusing on getting their products on the shelves of big stores, they’re working to expand their market with a grassroots outreach in the local community—although it’s currently beautifully packaged for sale in Meijer Grocery stores.
Looking ahead, Mr. Avila hopes to make a significant contribution to the area, envisioning a future where the business can create an additional revenue stream by selling their kernels to customers and distributors. He enjoys solving problems, building projects, and providing value to the community, and eventually plans to seek further career opportunities in the years to come. In preparation for his professional journey, he earned a degree in marketing and marketing management from Calvin University in 2017.