By Dan Spalding
News Now Warsaw
WARSAW — Ben Higgins will be the first to tell you downtown Warsaw doesn’t need another coffee shop – but it could always use generous amounts of love and goodness.
The Warsaw native, whose role on NBC’s reality show, The Bachelor, led to a book and a gig on iHeart Radio, has been quietly building a coffee roasting operation over the past several years that benefits non-profits around the world.
Higgins began Generous Coffee with two other individuals and then teamed up four years ago with Tyler Siveus, another Warsaw native. They began roasting coffee out of the old Champs building at the corner of Market and Buffalo streets two years ago.
That property didn’t have a suitable layout for their intentions and it also lacked a sizable door to move product in and out, so they chose to purchase and renovate a new location a block away at 121 W. Center Street next to the local Republican headquarters.
The concept of being a for profit that benefits non-profits is a rare business model and similar to actor Paul Newman’s Foundation.
Higgins calls it “a for-profit for purpose.”
Generous started in Denver, Colo., where Higgins lives, but they think Warsaw is a solid place that will embrace the concept.
“We’ve never had a building we could be proud of, a place that we could build from and expand from, so Warsaw always seemed like a perfect fit for us,” Higgins told a crowd of supporters Friday at a ribbon cutting hosted by Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce. “I just believe that Warsaw has the type of people that will get behind it.”
On Friday, with dozens of family, friends and supporters on hand, they unveiled their new base of operations that includes a roasting room in the back and a relaxing coffee shop atmosphere in front that will offer coffee based on donations as well as bags of coffee and related merchandise for sale.
The property will be for primarily roasting coffee beans, but they also hope it will serve as a gathering place. How that develops in terms of becoming a place for people to hang out remains to be seen.
“There’s really not a lot of place(s) in the downtown area to just hang out and have soft seating, and whether you want to have a meeting or study or whatever … we want to see what this space will be used for,” Higgins said. “That’s the fun part.”
They don’t intend to be a full-blown coffee shop.
Higgins said he’s aware of the number of coffee shops and the competitive nature in the downtown.
“There will be a little store, but … we really want to point people to go to the local coffee shops,” Higgins said.
Generous has donated over $200,000 to more than 20 different non-profits in the past four years.
On Friday, they announced the next four recipients would be from Kosciusko County — CASA of Kosciusko County, Wagon Wheel Center for Performing Arts, Cardinal Services and Baker Youth Club.
The agencies will be promoted on coffee bags and will receive a share of the profits after three months before Generous selects another group or groups for the next round of support.
Typically, Generous selects one non-profit for a quarter year and is able to provide a $2,500 donation.
The recipients also benefit from promotions on packaging, which includes a QR code that can be used to learn more about what the agencies do.
“We’re really excited about our ability to customize coffee offerings. It can be co-labeled, co-branded or white labeled,” Higgins said.
Erin Roland-Jones, executive director for CASA, which serves as court appointed advocates for children involved in abuse or neglect, said she was thrilled to be a recipient.
She said Silveus, who has supported CASA previously, reached out with the offer to help.
“I was very pleased to get that call out of the blue, and I said, ‘Absolutely, we can have a great partnership,’ and I’m excited to do that,” Roland-Jones said.
CASA relies heavily on financial support from the community, which many people do not realize, she said.
CASA has four paid staff overseeing a caseload of 110 children and coordinates efforts with 54 active volunteers, she said.
Higgins and Silveus also unexpectedly — and spontaneously — “spilled the beans” Friday on a new exclusive arrangement with The River Coffee House, to provide Generous Coffee for sale.
The River opened earlier this year in downtown Warsaw and has seen robust traffic at the corner of Buffalo and Center Streets. Amanda Meerzo and her husband, Jemel, also co-own The River in North Webster.
Amanda Meerzo confirmed the arrangement Friday afternoon and said she was impressed with the coffee that’s being produced.
“This has been a while in the making of just us tasting and sampling and knowing it was the right move for us as well,” Meerzo said.
Higgins explained the move.
“We’ve been working on it for a while. We wanted to find a partner in town. We wanted to find a partner that would could scale and grow and they have a vision to scale and grow,” Higgins said.
Generous is also sharing space at its new Center Street location with LITE (Living in Transition Effectively) a non-profit entity that helps inmates re-enter society after being incarcerated. LITE established itself in Milford a few years ago, expanded its Milford operation about a year ago and sought to provide services in Warsaw where it has worked closely with Kosciusko County Jail.
Silveus thinks allowing LITE to use the space goes hand-in-hand in breaking down barriers and bringing people together.
“That’s a role that Generous can fill because of what we’re about and what we’re trying to do,” Silveus said. “Our place can be a place where, I hope, the mayor sits down and has a meeting and I hope that at the same time, somebody that might be just getting out of jail is coming into LITE to look for help in the same spot. Why not?”
