CAPE ELIZABETH – It all started because Jamie Wagner couldn’t get a decent cup of coffee in Cape Elizabeth.

“That’s’ the God’s honest truth,” he said last week, with a laugh.

The Orono native had planned to open some sort of business when he moved back to Maine from Washington, D.C., seven years ago. An attorney by trade, Wagner’s journal from 2007, just before the return home, has an entry for goals once he got settled in and had his law practice up and running. Chief among them: “Open a small business supporting a local need.”

“That was a concept I had in my head – just look at your community and see what it’s lacking,” he explained while nursing a cappuccino at The Local Buzz, the cafe?, coffee shop and wine bar he eventually opened at 327 Ocean House Road. “My wife was like, why do you want to do that, you’re a lawyer, but I was like, it just seems like something the town needs. I think it would be a fun project.”

What became The Local Buzz was a year in the planning stage before it opened, and it quickly became more than a place to get great coffee and locally made bagels. And now, Wagner wants to take the shop to the next level, and he’s turning to a social-media campaign to help fund it.

The Local Buzz has always been, at its heart, as much a gathering spot as an eatery, says Wagner, who also serves on the Town Council. Whether it’s local students hanging out after school and doing homework over snacks, or senior citizens gathered for live jazz shows and Sunday brunch, The Local Buzz has become the place to be morning, noon and, to a limited extent, night.

Wagner wants the Buzz to expand to a genuine dinner menu under new chef Dustin Shockley, who grew up in Wiscasset and recently returned to Maine after studying with a host of celebrity chefs in California.

“We now have a trained chef. This is a guy who opened a starred-restaurant in Monterey, Calif.,” said Wagner. “He’s worked in Philadelphia. He lives and breathes cooking. He’s the real deal.”

But there’s just one problem. The kitchen at The Local Buzz lacks both the space and the equipment Shockley, a self-described “food geek,” needs in order to serve up more than light luncheon fare. Furthermore, while business at the Buzz has grown 30 percent per year since it opened three years ago, it has yet to turn a profit.

“Try and sell enough coffee to support our overhead – rent, labor, heat – it’s almost impossible,” said Wagner, “It’s hard to grow when most items on your menu are $3.”

So, Wagner is turning to the Internet, using a “crowd-funding” website called Kickstarter to raise $25,000. That money will be used to expand the kitchen space at the Buzz as well as to buy a new stove, a convection oven and various additional kitchen items, as well as the most important addition – an industrial-sized overhead hood vent needed for serious grilling.

Like all Kickstarter projects, Wagner’s will offer rewards to those who pledge money to the cause, from a free jar of homemade Buzz pickles for contributing $25, to a private tour for $500 of one of the local breweries that supply the Buzz’ locally sourced tap.

The expanded kitchen and evening hours also will mean hiring as many as five new employees, nearly doubling Wagner’s current seven-person workforce.

According to Kickstarter, as of July 24, it had facilitated the funding of 107,645 projects on its site, with more than $717 million pledged. However, just 44 percent of those projects actually met their funding goals. One such failed project belonged to Wagner’s fellow town councilor, Caitlin Jordan, who last fall used the site to try and raise $60,000 to rebuild the produce stand and install a production kitchen at her family business, Alewives Brook Farm, on Old Ocean House Road. The campaign ended up garnering $10,145 in pledges from 80 potential backers.

But Wagner is confident he can meet his goal. Following a kick-off event Monday to preview a video pitch created by a frequent Buzz patron, Annie Crivelli of Sakura Digital Group, the official Kickstarter campaign is expected to launch the day after Thanksgiving.

“I feel pretty strongly about our chances,” said Wagner, in light of The Local Buzz having more than 2,800 fans on Facebook. “I’m hopeful that through friends of friends we can take advantage of social media to fund this.”

Still, Wagner is sensitive to the fact that some people might question why they should give their own hard-earned money to help him expand his business.

“I brought this to the community with no intention of making a profit,” he said. “I just thought the community needed it, and I was passionate about that, and a lot of people have reinforced that belief with their patronage. And people have said almost since we opened that it would be nice to have quality dinners here. Now, I’m asking them to help us get to the next level, to participate in helping us to give them what they’ve asked for. We’re just hoping that people who have appreciated what we’ve done will help us to not only stick around, but to elevate what we do.”

“We’ve really elevated our food,” said general manager Dawn LaPointe. “It’s not going to be just a new kitchen with the same food. We are really going to up our game on the menu.”

On the strength of 22 years in the hospitality industry and a related degree from Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island, LaPointe beat out 45 others who applied for the job in the first 24 hours after Wagner posted the position on Craigslist.

Sensing the Buzz was ready for its next evolution, she helped lure Shockley, with whom she once worked at the Black Point Inn in Scarborough.

“I worked with Dustin for many, many years and it feels just really good to have his passion and talent,” she said, pledging a farm-to-table concept of local foods.

“I don’t necessarily want to re-invent the wheel,” says Shockley, “I just want to elevate the experience we already have here, with great food in a casual environment. Food is just something I fell in love with as a kid. I love the science of it, and sharing an experience beyond just what’s on the plate.”

That Buzz experience, says LaPointe, is what they hope to retain in the expansion.

“We have a great community. That’s what really keeps us going,” she said. “People come in; we know their names, and we know what they want. They like the homey environment. That and nobody wants to go over the [Casco Bay] bridge anymore. They want to stay here in town and not worry about parking in the Old Port.”

For Wagner, The Local Buzz has long since surpassed the need for a good cup of coffee in town. It’s become a gathering spot for community members of all types, and expanding into dinner service will, he hopes, allow that tradition to continue.

“For my own personal, social nature, I know I need a place where I can shake hands and talk to people,” said Wagner. “I’m all about places where people can commune and catch up with each other.”

The crew at the Local Buzz, located at 327 Ocean House Road in Cape Elizabeth, including, from left, owner Jamie Wagner, general manager Dawn LaPointe, and chef Dustin Shockley, are reaching out to the community through the crowd-funding website kickstarter.com, in hopes of raising money to install a new kitchen and expand dinner hours.