FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kristie Farnham, Director of Business Support
Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development
(802) 398-5268
Mocha Joe’s Roasting Co. Receives $350,000 Loan from Agency of Commerce and Community Development
BRATTLEBORO, VT – The Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD) has provided a loan of $350,000 through the Windham County Economic Development Program(WCEDP) to Capy Campman Holdings, LLC and Mocha Joe’s Roasting Co. for the relocation and expansion of Mocha Joe’s in Brattleboro.
The loan has supported the purchase of commercial real estate at 35 Frost Street, previously owned by Cultural Intrigue and used as a warehouse. The new facility will be used for coffee roasting and product storage, with remaining spaces leased out. The purchase of the warehouse enables them to hire more employees, keep inventory close to home, and reduce storage fees. Mocha Joe’s Café will remain on 82 Main Street in downtown Brattleboro. The café employs around a dozen people, and Mocha Joe’s also employs four full-time people, with another 80 people during the coffee season, in its mill in Cameroon, where they have been working directly with farmers since 2009.
“The WCEDP loan was a crucial financial piece in the purchase of the 35 Frost Street property for our new Roasting Facility. We are looking forward to soon occupying our new building which is functional and beautiful and still in the heart of downtown Brattleboro,” says Ellen Capy, co-founder of Mocha Joe’s.
Mocha Joe’s Roasting Co. is a specialty coffee roasting company that was founded in 1996 by Pierre and Ellen Capy and Finn Campman and has since grown to be a staple icon of downtown Brattleboro. It specializes in high quality coffee beans that are certified organic, Fair Trade and Rainforest Alliance. The company is also currently supporting Direct Alternative trade programs in Cameroon, Guatemala and Bolivia. It has over 100 wholesale customers throughout the Northeast.
“WCEDP exists to stimulate positive growth in Windham County, and by supporting strong local businesses with a message like Mocha Joe’s, we are investing in not only the Brattleboro area but the greater economic development of Vermont,” says Joan Goldstein, Commissioner of the ACCD Dept. of Economic Development.
WCEDP is administered by the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development in cooperation with the WCEDP Advisory Council. The funds were secured through an MOU governing the closure of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, for the purpose of mitigating the impacts of closure on the region’s economy including the loss of over 600 jobs. WCEDP investment promotes economic development in Windham County by stimulating job creation through business start-up, expansion, or relocation, by encouraging entrepreneurial activity, and by strengthening the economic development infrastructure to ensure a strong foundation for transformational economic activity.
For more information on WCEDP, visit http://accd.vermont.gov/economic-development/funding-incentives/windham-county.
The ACCD’s mission is to help Vermonters improve their quality of life and build strong communities. The ACCD is comprised of four Departments: the Department of Economic Development (DED), the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Department of Administration, and the Department of Tourism and Marketing (VDTM). The Agency reports annually to the Legislature on activities and outcomes.
For more information on the Vermont ACCD, visit: http://accd.vermont.gov/
For more information on Mocha Joe’s, visit: https://mochajoes.com/