Eastview Coffee

Situation

Jenny Ulbricht decided to turn her considerable skills and life experiences to the realm of coffee in 2020.  After kayaking solo around Lake Superior, only the second woman to do so, and many other challenges, she founded East View Coffee with a commitment to purchase from woman-owned coffee growers and producers. She is committed to living her values and giving back to the community through her business. In addition to finding ways to support women, she is giving back $1 for each bag of coffee sold toward donating coffee to local non-profit organizations.  She also using sustainable recycled packaging.

Solution

Jenny turned to SBA resource partners SCORE and WWBIC for small business planning even before she opened her business.  AS a coffee roaster, she started with creating a wholesale line and subscriptions to sell her high-quality products.  In the 40 sf incubator space that Eastview started in there was no room for retail sales or a café, but she hired three employees to support her growth.  As she added more wholesale clients, she turned to WWBIC again for a loan to expand.

Impact

With the loan, EastView moved to a larger space on the outskirts of downtown Kenosha and opened a tasting room in early 2024.  With a no-tip policy, she offers more than double the typical pay for coffee cafes, so attracts knowledgeable and experienced employees. Since then, revenues have grown by more than 300% and she has hired more employees, with employee count now at seven full-time and two part-time. To date, they have donated more than 1200 lbs. of coffee.  She has also begun issuing a social impact report.  Along with her financial contributions, Jenny is involved in several organizations supporting water and environmental quality.  Throughout her business development she has kept her values front and center, recently issuing East View’s first social impact report. SBA Wisconsin recognized Jenny Ulbricht and East View Coffee as its 2024 Wisconsin Emerging Small Business of the Year.