Startup Highlight — Beaningful Coffee
1. What’s the meaning behind your company’s name/brand?
Beaningful is a play on the word meaningful and we included the word bean to reference the coffee bean. The name represents the fact that it’s always been more than just a coffee shop. We provide job skills training for employees as well. The name highlights the coffee and the deep cause behind the company.
2. What’s great about starting something in the Minnesota region?
One of the things to love is that there is a community that loves good coffee and interesting coffee flavors. We designed a coffee shop that attracts people that want to get something that’s different from what they would get from a different coffee shop. Beaningful is a social enterprise of Neighborhood House, an organization started in 1897. The coffee shop is based in the lobby of Osborne 370 and starting in this building is a good way for The Neighborhood House to branch out West St Paul at the Wellstone Center. It’s a good way to connect with other communities, and a good growth opportunity.
3. What’s challenging about starting something in the Minnesota region?
Recognition and getting your name out is challenging. There’s lots of businesses and startups so it can be hard to stand out. For those in the food industry — trying to develop a regular customer base is challenging. Especially in this are for breakfast and lunch. They put work into trying to design things that are more appealing than you might get in other places. Developing a team and staff is challenging as you are continuing to grow. There’s a lot of continuous change. There’s a lot that you always have to be working on.
4. What fuels you and your company?
Personally our mission is the thing that fuels me so much. The staff, aka the Brew Crew, are participants in Neighborhood House programs including adult education programs. This is more than coffee, it’s about providing those job skills opportunities. One of these things is students transitioning from learning in the classroom to the business world. Beaningful is an opportunity to do that. A student might feel confident in the classroom but the real-life experience is more challenging. Beaningful is a bridge between lessons and programming and a stable job in the future.
5. What stage are you at with your business?
We’ve been around since November 2018 so it’s been almost a year. We are still at the beginning stages. We’ve expanded into doing happy hour menu items which has been a long term goal. We are also looking to offer more programming and support for the Brew Crew.
6. How can the community support your work?
Become a regular customer! In addition to a cup of coffee, we cater and people will schedule meetings or host events in the lobby space. If you’re in the building, stop by and ask to see what we can do for you and your business.
For questions, contact Gabrielle Gonzalez — Beaningful Manager, ggonzalez@neighb.org
