How about a cup of java for a good cause\u2009\u2014\u2009or two?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NC State has teamed up with 321 Coffee\u2009\u2014\u2009a company launched on campus in 2017 by two Park Scholars\u2009\u2014\u2009to bring a one-of-a-kind Wolfpack roast to market. Like other university-licensed products, the coffee, which carries the university\u2019s \u201cGreater Good\u201d label, will generate money for merit and athletic scholarships, as well as for students to study abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to licensing or co-branding products, the university prefers partners whose missions align with NC State. \u201c321 checks all the boxes in terms of their corporate social responsibilities, ethics and values and how they relate back to NC State,\u201d says Christopher Boyer, assistant vice chancellor for strategic brand management.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMichael Evans \u201921 MR and Lindsey Wrege \u201921<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
321 Coffee is the brainchild of Lindsey Wrege \u201921 of Raleigh, who recognized in high school that job opportunities for classmates with disabilities seemed bleak\u2009\u2014\u2009fully 80% of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed. The name is a nod to the cause of Down syndrome\u2009\u2014\u2009a third copy of the 21st chromosome. Once at NC State, Wrege and Michael Evans \u201921 MR of Raleigh set up shop on folding tables with home coffeemakers to give those friends\u2009\u2014\u2009and their friends\u2009\u2014\u2009jobs serving coffee at campus and community events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat a fun way to engage people with disabilities, to give them a team that they can be part of and a place where everyone can work together and the community can see them working to change stereotypes.\u201d \u2013 Lindsey Wrege \u201921<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d seen other coffee shops with this business model, and I thought, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s brilliant!\u2019\u201d Wrege says. \u201cWhat a fun way to engage people with disabilities, to give them a team that they can be part of and a place where everyone can work together and the community can see them working to change stereotypes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, 321 has 60 employees, including Wrege\u2019s high school friends. They roast and package Honduran beans, whip lattes, and ship coffee, mugs, T-shirts and other merchandise to more than 40 states. The company has three N.C. stores\u2009\u2014\u2009two in Raleigh and one in Durham\u2009\u2014\u2009and recently opened its own roaster. Boyer, Wrege and Evans expect job opportunities to grow with the introduction of Greater Good coffee. It\u2019s expected to be sold at 321 stores, online and on campus, and seasonal blends are likely to follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n
By Carole Tanzer Miller<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
How about a cup of java for a good cause\u2009\u2014\u2009or two?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NC State has teamed up with 321 Coffee\u2009\u2014\u2009a company launched on campus in 2017 by two Park Scholars\u2009\u2014\u2009to bring a one-of-a-kind Wolfpack roast to market. Like other university-licensed products, the coffee, which carries the university\u2019s \u201cGreater Good\u201d label, will generate money for merit and athletic scholarships, as well as for students to study abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to licensing or co-branding products, the university prefers partners whose missions align with NC State. \u201c321 checks all the boxes in terms of their corporate social responsibilities, ethics and values and how they relate back to NC State,\u201d says Christopher Boyer, assistant vice chancellor for strategic brand management.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMichael Evans \u201921 MR and Lindsey Wrege \u201921<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
321 Coffee is the brainchild of Lindsey Wrege \u201921 of Raleigh, who recognized in high school that job opportunities for classmates with disabilities seemed bleak\u2009\u2014\u2009fully 80% of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are unemployed. The name is a nod to the cause of Down syndrome\u2009\u2014\u2009a third copy of the 21st chromosome. Once at NC State, Wrege and Michael Evans \u201921 MR of Raleigh set up shop on folding tables with home coffeemakers to give those friends\u2009\u2014\u2009and their friends\u2009\u2014\u2009jobs serving coffee at campus and community events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat a fun way to engage people with disabilities, to give them a team that they can be part of and a place where everyone can work together and the community can see them working to change stereotypes.\u201d \u2013 Lindsey Wrege \u201921<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019d seen other coffee shops with this business model, and I thought, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s brilliant!\u2019\u201d Wrege says. \u201cWhat a fun way to engage people with disabilities, to give them a team that they can be part of and a place where everyone can work together and the community can see them working to change stereotypes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, 321 has 60 employees, including Wrege\u2019s high school friends. They roast and package Honduran beans, whip lattes, and ship coffee, mugs, T-shirts and other merchandise to more than 40 states. The company has three N.C. stores\u2009\u2014\u2009two in Raleigh and one in Durham\u2009\u2014\u2009and recently opened its own roaster. Boyer, Wrege and Evans expect job opportunities to grow with the introduction of Greater Good coffee. It\u2019s expected to be sold at 321 stores, online and on campus, and seasonal blends are likely to follow.<\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NC State teams up with a coffee business that gives opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/default-post-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"NC State teams up with a coffee business that gives opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities.\u00a0\",\"caption\":\"Photograph courtesy of 321 Coffee.\",\"displayCategoryID\":646}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[13,252,353,366,488,707,791,926],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-4820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newswire","category-stories","tag-321-coffee","tag-christopher-boyer","tag-disabilities","tag-down-syndrome","tag-greater-good-label","tag-lindsey-wrege","tag-michael-evans","tag-park-scholoars"],"displayCategory":null,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4820"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4992,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4820\/revisions\/4992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4820"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=4820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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