Coppa co-owner Marc Wheeler returned Sunday from Penn State University where he attended the 124th annual Ice Cream Short Course. At the end of the weeklong course, it was announced that Wheeler placed 2nd in the class of more than 140 students based on graded coursework and a final exam.
“I learned a great deal at the ice cream short course,” Wheeler said. “It was an intense week dedicated to the science, art and manufacturing of ice cream – from cow to cone. I can’t wait to use what I learned to make Coppa’s ice cream even better.”
Wheeler’s tuition and travel were funded in part by funds and air miles awarded to Coppa by winning Haa Aani’s Path to Prosperity competition and the Anchorage Economic Development Corporation’s AEDC Pitch-on-a-Train event.
“Probably the most fun parts of the course were when we tasted and evaluated a number of different ice creams, sometimes more than twenty,” Wheeler said. “But don’t be too jealous; we had to spit them out after each taste to keep our palates sharp.”
