“Coffee, people happy.”
It was those three words that encouraged Greg Holcomb and Jess McNaughton to take a leap, and the slogan continues to remind them why they did so.
In late September, the couple officially opened their coffee shop, Buffalo Brew, right on the square in quaint Newport.
The simple—but true—three-word statement came from one of McNaughton’s students at Newport High School, where she was a Pre-Employment Transition Services (PETS) instructor. This student was the one who made McNaughton particularly motivated to do something that would make a difference.
The goal of PETS is to bridge the gap between high school and employment by providing students with work experience and skills. Although the program, a partnership between United Cerebral Palsy of Central PA and the PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, was separate from the school’s life skills classes, McNaughton said the two groups often combined for certain events or projects.
After Thanksgiving 2016, McNaughton came forward with her proposal to open a coffee shop at the school that her students and the life skills students would staff. The idea was approved, and the shop is still open at the school today.
Newport schools Superintendent Ryan Neuhard said that the coffee shop addresses new aspects of a changing educational environment. He also credited a media center the school recently added for allowing for more social interaction between the students. All of this was in response to a national shift in educational expectations.
“There’s more of a bigger push for preparing the kids for college and making them career-ready,” he said. “Not only are we preparing students academically, but now we are also tasked with developing our students for that next phase of life. This program was perfect in the realm of being able to provide an opportunity for these students to work with other students and adults.”
Road Trip
McNaughton’s idea was inspired by a café in Wilmington, N.C., called Bitty and Beau’s, which is run by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. While customers love their products, Bitty and Beau’s prides itself on drawing people in for the unique customer service experience and feelings of acceptance and inclusion.
“That’s what they do—it’s a coffee shop, and they only employ adults with disabilities,” Holcomb said. “We road-tripped down there, slept in the car, got up and went in the place as soon as they opened and checked it out. It was a real, genuinely good feeling just being there and seeing how the people felt.”
McNaughton recalled sitting in the shop amazed at the operation for around two hours when Holcomb finally said, “All right, I think it’s getting kind of weird that we’re just sitting here now.”
After returning, the couple continued to toss around the idea of opening up a similar place. In addition to the trip to Bitty and Beau’s, McNaughton had been watching how the café in the school was helping students with social interaction and other life skills.
“It was just kind of this thing that wouldn’t go away,” McNaughton said. “It wouldn’t go away.”
When Holcomb and McNaughton stumbled upon the real estate listing for their current location, any lingering hesitation vanished.
“We saw this place and thought, ‘Well, if we’re gonna do it, this is the spot,’” Holcomb said. “So we took a leap.”
Friendly, Accepting
Indeed, Buffalo Brew is centrally located.
It’s situated right on 2nd Street in Newport, so anyone commuting to or from Harrisburg drives right past. It’s warmly decorated with wood and brick accents. Despite being new inside, it feels homey and welcoming.
Two Harrisburg-made products are on the menu: coffee from Little Amps and baked goods from Dalicia Bakery. McNaughton said they also plan to start serving bagels from Bagel Lovers Café, another Harrisburg business. She did stress, however, that the concept of Buffalo Brew is to be a genuine coffee shop—they serve bagels and baked goods, but no food that requires any serious cooking.
“We want to specialize in coffee,” she said. “We want to teach our employees to make coffee drinks. The goal behind this doesn’t suit a French fryer or flipping burgers.”
Buffalo Brew now has six employees, three of whom are former special education students at Greenwood and Newport high schools. Of those three, McNaughton had two in the PETS program at Newport. Holcomb and McNaughton both said they want to employ as many people with intellectual disabilities as possible and hope to hire more as the business grows.
Holcomb and McNaughton want Buffalo Brew’s atmosphere to be friendly and accepting. Both stressed how much they value the importance of being able to have conversations with people and how face-to-face communication is quickly becoming a lost skill. Holcomb said his business plan revolves around “friendly conversation, being personable and selling good products.”
They want Buffalo Brew to serve as another location in Newport for people to spend time together where everyone is accepted. McNaughton said teachers have come into the shop to grade papers, and another group of ladies hopes to knit together there.
“Sometimes it is a little surreal, but we just went with it,” McNaughton said. “We did it.”
Buffalo Brew is located at 24 N. 2nd St. in Newport. For more information, call 717-204-7606 or visit www.newportbuffalobrew.com or their Facebook page.
