Butler Coffee Lab opens retail store in downtown Butler
Over the past weekend, coffee and tea pod manufacturer Butler Coffee Lab officially unveiled its new retail location in the Butler Grand Ballroom building on Main Street, but the store is more than a place to buy coffee. It’s also a bridge to better employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
Butler Coffee Lab was opened in 2023 by Nadine Tripodi and Terry Kaiserman as a nonprofit coffee and tea pod manufacturer that aims to hire individuals with disabilities to give them honest and fair employment opportunities.
That business model foundation has since expanded, with the development of Butler Coffee Lab’s Keystone Talent Bridge program, which is a classroom-based program the nonprofit created to help individuals with disabilities fine-tune their career skills. The program covers everything from handshakes to resumes, according to executive director Luke Gilligan.
“It really provides them with a well-rounded resume to then go get places in a full-time employment role with employer partners that we have created,” he said.
Butler Coffee Lab is looking to partner with local businesses who are interested in being more inclusive and hiring workers with disabilities. Participants go through the 10-week program with Butler Coffee Lab, and then they can find a job in line with their career goals via an employer partner.
“There are a few different employers saying they want to do inclusive hiring, but they need a little help starting that,” Gilligan said. “We wrote a playbook for them that helps with job carving.
“We are not asking them to create new jobs for these individuals, but reframe how they think about the outcomes they have for jobs and could they fill it with one of our individuals.”
Butler Coffee Lab received funding in the amount of $200,000 from Heinz Endowments in Pittsburgh to get the Keystone program up and running.
Gilligan said they already have some people signed up to start the program, which will kick off in April.
The new retail space at 201 South Main Street, Suite 102, has two purposes, according to Gilligan. First, it serves as the Keystone program’s classroom and workspace. Then, it also serves as a simple retail location where people can come and purchase coffee.
“When you come in, you will see all the coffee you can buy, and there is a waiting room,” Gilligan said. “Then, we have the administration offices and the classroom where they will do the program.”
The space opened in February and was celebrated with a ribbon cutting late last week.
The new store opens also frees up more space on the manufacturing side of things, Gilligan said. The manufacturing space is also inside the Butler Grand Ballroom building.
“We are growing, and I think we are growing out of our production space, which is a good thing,” Gilligan said. “We had the opportunity with the Keystone Bridge to open this office. The reason we like it is because it's directly off Main Street, but is also a good entrance for the Keystone program.
“When people come in, they can see what the participants are doing and making and the benefits of it.”
Butler Coffee Lab’s retail location is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and by appointment on Friday.
