Nonprofits, Local Companies See Benefit From Business Arrival in Capital City

The arrival of Blue State Coffee in downtown Hartford has been more than a convenient place to grab a cup of coffee for supporters of a number of nonprofit organizations in the Capitol City.  It has also meant the introduction of a new revenue stream for organizations they care about, at a time when budgets have been particularly tight. Most recently for Our Piece of the Pie, Journey Home, Unified Theater, The iQuilt Plan, Partnership for Strong Communities, Dream Camp at Trinity College, CT ALIVE and Hartford Food System, Blue State Coffee’s policy of sharing two percent of their profits with local organizations suggested by their customers has been most welcome.

Turns out it can make a difference with a retail business with a commitment to social benefit comes to town.

Blue State Coffee, founded in Rhode Island in 2007, provides their customers at each of their store locations to choose four local non-profit organizations twice a year for a six-month period. Each time a customer makes a purchase he or she may vote for one of the four non-profits being supported at that time. They then allocate 2 percent of sales based on the number of votes each organization receives during the six month donation period.

Since their first store opened in July of 2007, the company reports they have donated over $635,000 to more than 250 non-profit organizations. In total, the company operates eight cafes: four cafes in Connecticut, two in Rhode Island, and two in Massachusetts.

Hartford, which opened just under a year ago at 777 Main Street, was the fourth location in Connecticut, following three in New Haven (84 Wall Street opened in January 2009, 276 York Street opened in May 2010, and 320 Congress Avenue opened in September 2012).  There are also two locations in Boston and two in Providence.   In New Haven, nearly 100 nonprofit organizations have received support since the first coffee shop opened in the Elm City.

Blue State is also very much a part of the trend to use local farms, local goods and local vendors.  The Hartford location, for example, features eggs from Bloomfield, milk from Lebanon, bread from Deep River, Bagels from Cheshire, produce from Simsbury and maple syrup from North Grosvenordale. 

As the company website points out, “We will continue to grow, creating community within our stores and demonstrating that business can be a positive force for good.”