Fair-Well Tours
With a caffeine buzz and a good idea, one businessman hatches a plan.
By Sarah Layden
A $4 cup of coffee got Tim Thoman thinking. At a cafe in El Salvador in 2005, Thoman took a sip and considered the meager pay of the country’s locals—only $5 a day picking coffee beans. “They’re talented and smart,” he says, “and there’s no opportunity for them.” So he wanted to start a company to put Salvadorans to work—and pay them fairly. The owner of Indy-based Performance Services, Thoman had first developed an interest in the country when he met John Guiliano, a missionary who spoke at St. Pius X Church in 1999. Thoman eventually donated money to the country; later, he visited—and got to thinking.
El Salvador’s natural beauty and the desire to help local workers proved a perfect equation. Two years after his visit, Thoman co-founded Tamarindo Touring Company with Guiliano. The business serves adventure travelers while allowing Salvadorans to earn living wages as trained tour guides.
Through Tamarindo, travelers can climb volcanoes or surf the Pacifi c. Expeditions like the “Pure Adrenaline” (climb two volcanoes in a day) or “Bird Watching” (stroll through the forest) range from $2,215 to $2,890, a fee that includes seven days and six nights of accommodations, meals, tours, and taxes.
Much of the money the company makes stays in El Salvador with Guiliano, who serves as a tour guide, or with the hired hands, and Thoman hopes his business will allow Salvadorans to “grow and thrive in their homeland.”
And as for that $4 coffee? That was money well-spent.