Help Support Inclusion Coffee Company
Photo of Inclusion Coffee In Hartland, Wisconsin. Photo from Inclusion Coffee Company.
Sarah Kidd
There’s a new coffee shop opening this month in Hartland, Wisconsin that you need to support! Inclusion Coffee Company, run by 23 year old MacKenzie Edinger, aims to provide delicious coffee with more than fifty percent of staff positions filled by individuals with special needs. According to their website, work experience for these individuals will include cooking, baking, crafting drinks, money handling, customer service, and so much more.
Store owner/founder Mackenzie Edinger. Photo from Inclusion Coffee Company.
Edinger’s background is well-suited to take on this project. She is driven, and seems to be extremely dedicated to this project. Edinger stated, “I was always very interested in Special Education and helping others, so after high school I went to UW-Whitewater and studied Early Childhood and Special Education. After that, I decided that I did not want to go into teaching in the classroom right away and I wanted to do something in the community. I then saw this coffee shop building for sale and wanted to pursue that. Very happy I did!”
Edinger seeks to open this coffee shop with her friend Jack, someone that Edinger babysat for two summers. Edinger mentioned that “Jack is a great guy, and just graduated from Waukesha North. He is now currently in the Waukesha Transition Program, but will be working close to full time when we open.”
Jack. Photo from Inclusion Coffee Company.
The two are very close, and Jack is excited to work at Inclusion “because it will be fun and I will get to meet a lot of people—I’ll make coffee drinks and make people happy with them!”
There will be many more people like Jack that will benefit from this type of work experience, and the insight and skills that they will gain will be irreplaceable. This concept is a wonderful opportunity to incorporate individuals with disabilities into the community in a meaningful way. Edinger stated, “With my background, I felt that our community needed something like this. I very rarely see individuals with disabilities working in our community, so I wanted to create a space where they felt valued and appreciated.
In more of a logistical sense, Edinger mentioned it was a challenge to put this together, mentioning, “It was a lot of work! Like I said, I went to school for Education, so I did not have any business background. I used lots of mentors and people that I knew to start up and help me with the business side of things. Getting permits and licenses was probably the hardest and most confusing part for me. I could not have done it without them!”
Photo from Inclusion Coffee Company.
The logo that she created is definitely one of the most important symbols that represents their company. It is described as “a bunch of people gathered around like a community. I envisioned it like people gathered at the coffee shop and being one big community.” When asked how the community is responding to Edingers idea, she said, “THEY LOVE IT and are super excited to support when we finally open! We have gotten a ton of positive feedback and response and I am thrilled to open the doors to the public in a few short weeks!”
Long term goals for this coffee shop include not only expansion of the company, but also enriching the lives of individuals with disabilities. Edinger stated, “I am hoping that the individuals build independence and confidence at this coffee shop and really want them to feel valued and important. If all goes well, we are looking at possibly franchising in the future.”
Inclusion Coffee Company will be opening at the end of March. They will be serving Berres Brothers Coffee Roasters from Watertown, Wisconsin, a veteran-owned small business, and will also offer coffee alternatives such as juices, smoothies, fresh made bakery, breakfast sandwiches, sandwiches, panini, pinsa, and more. Edinger envisions a coffee shop that is “an inviting and upbeat place where everyone feels welcomed, not just the employees.”
Outside of Edinger’s company, Edinger stated that she believes inclusion is “a skill that not everybody has. There are certain people that are definitely more inclusive than others and want to include everybody. Society needs to accept the fact that everybody is different, but EVERYBODY has strengths in something and they can always bring that to the table.”
This endeavor is something the Hamilton community should definitely support! It is an amazing opportunity to support small businesses and practice inclusion. More information can be found on their website at https://inclusioncoffeecompany.com. Their address is 3152 Village Square Drive, Hartland, Wisconsin 53029. If you are craving a coffee in the future, make sure to check out Inclusion Coffee Company either through their drive thru or cafe!
