EMPLOYEE BLOG, NEWSLETTERS

Employee Newsletter 9/26/2022

Posted on by Val Newhouse

CoCo Reflection from Michael Marchant:

This Week’s CoCo: Never Stop Learning

Last one and I’m going to be lazy and post a big, long quote. HA!

I was recently reminded of the excellent album by Jon Hopkins, Music For Psychedelic Therapy, and I highly recommend it if you’re in the mood for something meditative. The final track called “Sit Around the Fire” features a recording of a talk given by Ram Dass in the 1970’s with improvised piano from Jon Hopkins. It’s strikingly beautiful and to me it emphasizes the true importance of wonderment.

Anyway, it’s been fun writing these. Thanks to anyone who read them!
See you around.

“Beyond all polarities, I am
Let the judgments and opinions of the mind
Be judgments and opinions of the mind
And you exist behind that

Ahh so, ahh so

It’s really time for you to see through
The absurdity of your own predicament

You aren’t who you thought you were
You just aren’t that person
And in this very lifetime you can know it
Right now

The real work you have to do
Is in the privacy of your own heart
All of the external forms are lovely
But the real work
Is your inner connection

If you’re quiet when you meditate
If you truly open your heart
Just quiet your mind
Open your heart
Quiet the mind, open the heart

How do you quiet the mind? You meditate
How do you open the heart?
You start to love that which you can love
And just keep expanding it

You love a tree
You love a river
You love a leaf
You love a flower
You love a cat
You love a human

But go deeper and deeper into that love
‘Til you love that
Which is the source of the light behind all of it

Behind all of it

You don’t worship the gate
You go into the inner temple

Everything in you that you don’t need
You can let go of

You don’t need loneliness
For you couldn’t possibly be alone

You don’t need greed
Because you already have it all

You don’t need doubt
Because you already know

The confusion is saying
“I don’t know”
But the minute you are quiet
You find out that in truth you do know

For in you, you know

Plane after plane will open to you
I want to know who I really am

As if in each of us
There once was a fire
And for some of us
There seem as if there are only ashes now
But when we dig in the ashes
We find one ember

And very gently we fan that ember
Blow on it, it gets brighter
And from that ember we rebuild the fire

Only thing that’s important is that ember
That’s what you and I are here to celebrate

That though we’ve lived our life totally involved in the world
We know—

We know that we’re of the spirit

The ember gets stronger
Flame starts to flicker a bit

And pretty soon you realize that all we’re going to do for eternity
Is sit around the fire”

CoCo Reflection from Celeste Bayer:

Next Week’s CoCo: Keep Your Commitments

Hello everyone, I am excited to share my thoughts with you over the next 13 weeks! For those of you who do not know me, I am Celeste and I joined the SCC team in 2017! I am the Employee Care Coordinator, as well as a Master Barista at our Oconomowoc Cafe. Other than coffee, I like traveling and exploring new places, eating and learning about nutrition, and anything outdoors (besides running to run). Here are my thoughts on Keep Your Commitments.

As a person who likes to over commit myself, this is a tough one and has been one I continue to work on in my personal and professional life. This commitment is one of the simplest, but hardest to execute in my opinion. I have learned that to keep your commitments, sometimes you have to not make any. Sounds kind of funny, but I guess that is my way of saying you need to say no sometimes. We all have responsibilities and things that we need to do, that will never change. I remember thinking in high school that once I graduate, stop playing sports competitively, and performing in musicals, I will have more time for “blank” or be able to do “blank” because I have the time. As I enter my adult life and do full time work, University, and plan a wedding, I understand that time and commitments do not work that way. This is why keeping your commitments clear and understanding what you can and can’t do is so important. There will always be more we can do and sometimes we have to pick and choose. I think that keeping your commitments is the first Core Commitment because it is the center of all the other commitments. If we can learn to keep our commitments to ourselves, to each other, and to the company then the rest of the Core Commitments will lay on a solid foundation.

CoCo Heroes:

  • Never Stop Learning: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Oconomowoc Cafe – Makayla Drutowski! She is the epitome of Never Stop Learning! Right when she started at Stone Creek, she was eager to learn more with our EDU team and to get certified, and went all in with getting familiar with our coffee roasts and espresso offerings. She received her Master Barista Certification after being at Stone Creek for about four months as well, and passed with flying colors! She perfected her pours and practiced a ton to compete in our TNT in July! Makayla is constantly getting her team members involved by starting conversations about Seasonal Espresso, what’s on drip, and tasting dial in. Her contagious excitement about coffee and NSL spirit is out of this world!
  • Keep Your Commitments: This Core Commitment Hero comes from the Glendale Cafe – Vanessa Van Den Elzen! She is always keeping her commitments by updating our team whiteboard with upcoming launches, and is always the first one to identify and attack needed cleaning tasks that fall between the weekly and deep cleaning checklist!

Coffee Talk: Black Sheep

  • What’s in this coffee?
    • Nicaragua Medium (50%), Brazil “French” (40%), and Costa Rica Light (10%)
  • How long has this been the composition?/What coffee was in here previously?
    • Since May of 2022
    • We previously had a Medium Colombia in place of Medium Nicaragua.
  • How does this roast affect the flavor experience?
    • The Nicaragua medium brings sweet cocoa notes and a round body, whereas the French Brazil brings some smokiness and carbon, and the light roasted Costa Rica brings a touch of acidity.
  • Why does it have this name?

    • It’s a dark that wants to be light. It has enough fruit and acidity to make a dynamic cup while also having enough carbon to appeal to dark roast lovers.

Going-Ons:

  • SCC Transportation Grant: Hey Coffee Geeks! In striving to be equitable, inclusive, and environmentally conscious, SCC offers a transportation grant opportunity to a handful of team members each quarter. This grant is awarded based on need. Team members who receive this grant will receive a monthly reimbursement towards a bus pass, bike, etc. If your primary method of transportation to work is something other than a personal vehicle and you are interested in participating, please email teams@stonecreekcoffee.com to request an application. All current and previous recipients should reach out to Teams to request a new application to reapply for the upcoming quarter. We will be accepting applications through the end of the day on Monday, October 10, 2022. Q4 grant recipients will be selected by the end of the day on Monday, October 17th. Please see the 2022 Employee Handbook for additional details.
  • Tour & Public Class Scheduling Partnership: Did you know that when customers sign up to attend a Public Class or Factory Tour via Humanitix, 100% of the booking fees go towards funding education projects for disadvantaged children in an effort to close the global education gap? We are so thrilled to be partnering with Humanitix for our event ticket sales beginning at the beginning of November! If you have family, friends, or customers who are interested in expanding their coffee knowledge by taking public coffee classes similar to those our baristas take or are interested in taking a tour of our Factory Cafe, don’t hesitate to encourage them to sign up and share the impact of their attendance!
  • Employee Discounts Reminder: Please review our Employee Discount Policy, as documented in our 2022 Employee Handbook. Please reach out to your Team Leader and Teams with any questions. In addition to complimentary beans, as a member of any Stone Creek Coffee team, you get to enjoy some great discounts including:
    • Complimentary coffee-based beverages during and up to ½ hour before or after your shift when using your own mug or an in-store mug.
      • If you decide to get your beverage in a Stone Creek Coffee plastic/paper to-go cup, you will need to purchase the beverage with your 40% discount. 
      • If you are a PM Delivery Driver who does not have access to free shift drinks because cafes are closed, you are entitled to complimentary coffee-based beverages at any time a cafe is open.
      • All team members are entitled to one complementary alternative milk, a coffee-based beverage of choice while they are on shift. Additional alternative milk beverages while on shift will require the team member to pay for the alternative milk. 
    • 40% discount on other beverages: milk only, breve, alternative milk, juices, hot chocolate, steamers, tea, bottled beverages, or any other beverage without coffee or espresso in it. 
    • 40% discount on all pastries and other items.
    • 40% discount on purchases when you are in the cafe and not working. This discount will be extended to persons with you on beverages and pastries. Family and friends do not receive a 40% discount if they visit while you are working or by themselves.
    • 40% discount on SCC’s mobile app orders when using the promo code included in the most recent Employee Newsletter. Family and friends are not eligible for this discount.
    • 20% discount on online orders, including free shipping when using the promo code included in the most recent Employee Newsletter. Family and friends are not eligible for this discount.
    • NOTE: Taking free coffee when you are not working, drinking non-coffee-based beverages without paying, giving away items, or honoring your online discount code for non-Stone Creek Coffee employees is prohibited.
  • Coffee Geeks Out of Darkness Walk | Brewing Change: Stone Creek Coffee is so excited to be supporting Abby Barlow, one of our Lake Country Cafe baristas, in their Brewing Change initiative! Abby will be participating in Milwaukee’s Out of the Darkness Walk for suicide prevention and awareness and is excited to assemble a team of Coffee Geeks to join her. Please see a note from Abby below with more details!
    • “Hello! My name is Abby and some of you may know me as I was recently the traveling barista for the summer, the Lake Country cafes are now my home. This October I wanted to encourage you all as the months get colder and darker to come together and bring more awareness to suicide prevention by either joining our team to walk in the Milwaukee Out of Darkness Community Walk or by financially donating and supporting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. A lot of us have been closely impacted by suicide and this is a great way to bring awareness and support!”
    • You can join Abby’s team and walk with her and other fellow Coffee Geeks on October 9th or donate by clicking here. Stone Creek Coffee will be matching team member donations up to a total of $500. To have your donation matched, simply send your donation receipt to Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com).
    • This would be a great opportunity to use SCC’s Volunteer Time Off which can be done by requesting time off in Paycor and emailing Teams & People.
  • SCC Volunteer Day: We are partnering with Brewing Change Partner Kinship Community Food Center (what used to be Riverwest Food Pantry) to do a day at their Urban Farm. Join us on Saturday, October 8th 8:30-12pm! What better way to care for our community than doing it with your coworkers in our own neighborhood? Please RSVP by September 26th! More info and RSVP here. Reminder: We have that rad SCC benefit where we have paid time off for the purpose of doing volunteer work! You can work with your Coach to apply it to this outing or others!

Wins & Shout-outs:

Shoutout to Silken, Mitch, and the weekend team at the Factory for crushing it through a busy Doors Open weekend! Our Factory Cafe and Tour Guides supported 250+ tour attendees between Saturday & Sunday. Thank you so much everyone for all of your hard work and remarkable care!

Email the Employee Celebration Committee (celebrations@stonecreekcoffee.com) if you’d like to recognize or celebrate a teammate. Or if you want to make a public shout-out, email Val (vnewhouse@stonecreekcoffee.com) to include in the next Employee Newsletter!

Birthdays:

  • 9/29 – Drew Pond
  • 10/3 – Emma Kropidlowski
  • 10/8 – Jess Rutherford
  • 10/12 – Andy Kubash
  • 10/12 – Emma McClure
  • 10/15 – Kim Dunn
  • 10/17 – Makayla Drutowski
  • 10/18 – Chase Sullivan
  • 10/19 – Johnny Zei
  • 10/20 – Destiny Williams
  • 10/21 – Abby Barlow
  • 10/21 – Alexis Westhoff
  • 10/24 – Joey Mandarino
  • 10/25 – Dominique Whitney

Anniversaries:

  • Brianna Arnold – 1 year!
  • Madisen DeBord – 1 year!
  • Selina Domenech – 4 years!
  • Christopher Hoag – 5 years!
  • Corina Lopez – 7 years!
  • Lauren Matenaer – 1 year!
  • Emma McClure – 1 year!

Welcomes:

  • Gwynn Beversdorf – Glendale
  • Chris Chapman – Wauwatosa
  • Margaret Bigler – Factory
NSL

Job Openings:

Check out our job openings when you click the button below.

view all current openings

Employee Discount Codes:
Please don’t share these with non-employees

  • 20% Employee-Only Website Coupon Code
    • September: Sep22sccemp
    • October: Oct22sccemp
  • 40% Employee-Only Mobile App Coupon Code
    • September: Sep22sccemp
    • October: Oct22sccemp

Catch up on all of our newsletters, company updates, recipes, and more in our Employee Blog here.

Ways to Speak Up:

Do you want to speak up about ideas, thoughts, and more? Send an email to Teams & People (teams@stonecreekcoffee.com) or use the button below to send a note anonymously.

Leave a Reply

At Stone Creek Coffee, social responsibility is a foundational element of our identity. We believe that a commitment to the environment must coexist with other elements of social responsibility for a holistic approach to doing our best for the world and others.

Stone Creek Coffee will regularly audit and identify areas of environmental strength and weakness within the overall operations of the organization.  We will attempt to reduce any negative impacts to air, surface water, ground water, public health, community quality of life, and employee health while producing coffee that is sweet, clean, and juicy. Stone Creek Coffee will strive for continual improvement in pollution prevention while meeting or exceeding all regulations.

Eric Resch, Managing Director
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As a mission-driven company, at Stone Creek Coffee, we believe in serving and enhancing the local communities we live and work in.

We believe that the socially responsible practices we apply daily in our internal operations can proliferate with the involvement of our stakeholders, customers, and our communities. In each community where our employees work and live, we — as Stone Creek Coffee and individual members of the community — actively create opportunities to play a positive role through various initiatives. These initiatives include support of important charitable organizations through monetary and/or material donations, promoting volunteerism, and more.

In line with our mission to be socially responsible, we also commit to the following: 

Serving Local Customers
  • We commit to serve at least 75% local and independent clients or customers. 
  • Local Hiring - As a company that is committed to its local community, at Stone Creek Coffee, we are also committed to local hiring.
  • Local Suppliers - We are committed to using local suppliers when possible.

Eric Resch, Managing Director
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SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT

At Stone Creek Coffee, social responsibility is a foundational aspect of our identity. As such, we expect our partners and suppliers to conduct themselves and their business in an ethical, legal, and socially responsible manner including, but not limited to, their commitment to the environment, their employees, and the community. 

Legal Requirements

We expect that all suppliers know and follow the laws that apply to them and their business, as well as to treat the law as the minimum standard. 

Ethical Requirements - Integrity

At Stone Creek Coffee, we believe in conducting business with integrity and as a force for good. We expect our suppliers to operate fairly and ethically. Bribes, kickbacks, inappropriate gifts or hospitality, or other improper incentives in connection with Stone Creek Coffee are not tolerated. Suppliers are expected to avoid any conflict of interest relating to financial interests or other arrangements with our employees that may be considered inappropriate, and are to work with their own suppliers to promote business conduct consistent with the principles in this Code.

Labor Requirements 

Child Labor and Slavery - We do not tolerate child labor or slavery in our supply chain. Consistent with the United Nations Global compact principles, suppliers should avoid any sort of child labor in the business operations. 

Identification of Concerns - Suppliers are required to provide means for their employees to report concerns or potentially unlawful activities in the workplace. Any report should be treated in a confidential manner. Suppliers will investigate such reports and take corrective action if needed.

Wages and Working Conditions

Working Hours, Wages and Benefits - Working hours for suppliers’ employees will not exceed the maximum set by the applicable national law. Compensation paid to employees will comply with applicable national wage laws and ensure an adequate standard of living. Suppliers are expected to provide their employees with fair and competitive compensation and benefits. Compensation and benefits should aim at providing an adequate standard of living for employees and their families. Suppliers’ employees will be paid in a timely manner. It is recommended that suppliers offer their employees ample training and educational opportunities.

Diversity and Inclusion - Fair and equal treatment of all employees is expected to be a fundamental principle of all of our supplier’s corporate policies. Typical discriminatory treatment takes into consideration – consciously or unconsciously – irrelevant characteristics of an employee such as race, national origin, gender, age, physical characteristics, social origin, disability, religion, family status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression or any unlawful criterion under applicable law. Suppliers will ensure that their employees are not harassed in any way. Stone Creek Coffee encourages its suppliers to provide an inclusive and supportive working environment while exercising diversity when it comes to their employees as well as in their decisions to select subcontractors.

Health, Safety, Quality, and Security

Health and Safety - In order to provide dignity and respect, we expect all of our suppliers to protect workers’ rights and provide safe and healthy working conditions. We encourage our supplier partners to foster an environment that is inclusive, and free of harassment and discrimination. 

Emergency Preparedness, Risk Information, and Training - Suppliers will make available safety information on identified workplace risks and suppliers’ employees will be correspondingly trained to ensure they are adequately protected. Suppliers will identify and assess likely and potential emergency situations in the workplace and minimize their impact by implementing emergency plans and response procedures.

Quality and Security - Suppliers are expected to have good security practices across their supply chains. Suppliers will maintain processes and standards that are designed to assure the integrity of each shipment to Stone Creek Coffee from its origin through to its destination and all points in between. Suppliers are expected to implement the necessary and appropriate measures in their area of responsibility to ensure that Stone Creek Coffee products, their workable components or raw materials as well as the corresponding know-how do not end up in the hands of counterfeiters or third parties and do not leave the legal supply chain.

Environmental Awareness 

Waste and Emissions - Suppliers will have systems in place to ensure the safe handling, movement, storage, recycling, reuse and management of waste, air emissions and wastewater discharges. Any of these activities that have the potential to adversely impact human or environmental health will be appropriately managed, measured, controlled and handled prior to release of any substance into the environment. Suppliers will have systems in place to prevent or mitigate accidental spills and releases into the environment.

Resource Conservation and Climate Protection - Suppliers are expected to use natural resources (e.g. water, sources of energy, raw materials) n an economical way. Negative impacts on the environment and climate will be minimized or eliminated at their source or by practices such as the modification of production, maintenance and facility processes, material substitution, conservation, recycling and material reutilization. Suppliers will engage in the development and use of climate-friendly products and processes to reduce power consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Preference to Purchase from Local Suppliers and Suppliers with Ownership from Underrepresented Populations - At Stone Creek Coffee, we are committed to our community and the environment. As such, we have a preference to purchase from local suppliers when possible, as well as to purchase from suppliers who support other local suppliers. We also give preferences to suppliers with ownership from underrepresented populations.

Supplier Audits and Record Keeping - In order to make responsible, well-informed business decisions and disclose truthful and timely information to our stakeholders, we expect our supplier partners to maintain accurate and honest records.  In line with this, we expect our supplier partners to do the following: maintain books and records that reflect all transactions in an accurate, honest, and timely way; employ appropriate quality audit and compliance processes for matters such as product and food safety, worker health and safety, and labor and employment; to enable traceability, disclose the location of facilities and known origins of materials upon request/audit.

When screening potential suppliers, we screen for the following:
  1. Compliance with all local laws and regulations, including those related to social and environmental performance
  2. Good governance, including policies related to ethics and corruption, as well as diversity and inclusion
  3. Positive practices beyond what is required by regulations (e.g. environmentally-friendly manufacturing process, excellent labor practices, performance to the Core Commitments, etc.)
  4. Third-party certifications related to positive social and/or environmental performance (B Corp certification, Bird Friendly, etc.)
  5. Local suppliers should be given preference (within 250 miles of Factory)
  6. Suppliers owned by underrepresented populations should be given preference

Jessica Sheridan, Director of Coffee 

SUPPLIER LIST:
Aeropress
Ally Coffee
Alto Cold Brew
Amazon Business
American Solutions for Business
Ascentives
Atlas Coffee
AUI Fine Foods
Badger Distributing of Milwaukee LLC
Bodum USA
Boelter Companies
Britevision Media
BUNN
Cafe Imports
Caravela Coffee
Carmo Coffee
Champaign Coffee Company
Chemex Corporation
Clover Distribution
Complete Office of WIsconsin
Component Design
DWC Specialties
Economy Lamp Co
Englehardt Dairy
Espresso Parts
Evolve Snacking
Exclusive Coffees
FETCO
Flair Flexible Packaging Corp
Genuine Origin Coffee
Good Land Supply Co
Gordon Food Service
Grandstand
Gravity Marketing
Great American Spice Company
Greco & Sons
Green Bay Packaging
Halo Soap LLC
InterAmerican Coffee
Kallas Honey Farm
La Marzocco USA
Long Miles Coffee Int Ltd
Magellan Promotions, LLC
Marich Confectionery
Meadowlark Organics
Milwaukee Candle Company
Natures Flavors
NKG (Neumann Kaffee Gruppe)
notNuetral
Occhetti Foods
Olam Specialty Coffee
Omanhene Cocoa Bean Co.
Online Labels
Orchard Street Press
PBFY Flexible Packaging
Plant Guru
Polaris Specialty Coffee
Premium Water
Rishi Tea
Rockline
Royal Coffee
San Miguel Single Origin Coffees (Green Power Trade Inc.)
Sassy Cow Creamery
Shared Source Coffee
Sleeve A Message
Spice House
Sysco East Wisconsin
Tapped Maple Syrup
Terra Spice
The Chai Company
The Chef's Warehouse
Tony Machi Fruits & Vegetables
Uline
UNFI
V. Marchese
Valley Bakers
Volcafe
 
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ANNUAL BENEFIT REPORT 
Fiscal Year 2020
1/1/20-12/31/20
  Benefit Director - Eric Resch

Owners (owning >= 5% of the shares of the benefit corporation): Melissa Perez, Eric Resch

Letter from Benefit Director

Social obligation is a founding principle of Stone Creek Coffee and acts as an ethos for our business. With this obligation comes responsibilities and commitments. At Stone Creek Coffee, we are committed to keeping those commitments. In line with this, this past year, we became a benefit corporation with the state of Wisconsin by amending our articles of incorporation in order to further promote and uphold this commitment. 

As a benefit corporation, we are required to share a Benefit Report at the end of each fiscal year that outlines the work we have done, as well as any potential drawbacks or challenges we have faced, to work towards the specific benefits we have committed to serve. Though 2020 was full of challenges as we all lived and worked through an unprecedented time, we are humbled by the progress we made and continue to make towards creating benefit for our community, the environment, and beyond. We are profoundly moved by the continued work and assistance of our stakeholders to achieve these goals, as well as to create new ones. We look forward to the work that lies ahead of us in 2021. Together, we are better.

On we Go.

- Eric Resch, Benefit Director, Managing Director and Co-owner

Introduction
Stone Creek Coffee officially became a benefit corporation with the State of Wisconsin on June 5th, 2020. A benefit corporation is a legal entity that formally commits to serving general and specific benefit(s) to the public and the environment by writing social and environmental values into their articles of incorporation. At the end of each fiscal year, benefit corporations publish an annual report that outlines what they have done to serve these benefits, as well as any challenges we have faced in the course of doing so.

Specific Benefit Purposes in Our Bylaws

The purposes for which Stone Creek Coffee’s benefit corporation are formed are as follows:
  1. To create a general public benefit.
  2. To create the specific public benefits of: 
    1. Providing individuals or communities with beneficial products or services.
    2. Preserving the environment.
  3. To do any and all other lawful activities or business permitted under the laws of the United States, Wisconsin, or any other state, territory, or nation.
    
Major accomplishments:
  1. Became a benefit corporation with the State of Wisconsin.
  2. Officially kicked off our ‘Brewing Change’ initiative, which speaks directly to our commitments to provide stakeholders with beneficial products or services and to preserve the environment. 
  3. Implemented formal policies across the company that benefit our stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers, community) and the environment. These policies are listed more specifically in the section, Stone Creek Coffee’s Efforts to Create Public Benefit.
  4. Completed the B Impact Assessment as our third-party standard to assess our performance to our commitments, as well as to guide our work. The B Impact Assessment is a free, comprehensive, and transparent tool for assessing overall corporate social and environmental performance. 
     
Challenges:
By and large, the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge for us as a company and as individuals. However, rather than allowing the pandemic to become a hindrance to our mission to create benefit, we used this difficult time as an opportunity to pivot our business, as well as take on more projects that seek to benefit our stakeholders, the community, and the environment, which is clearly outlined in the following sections. 

Stone Creek Coffee’s Efforts to Create Public Benefit:

Governance
We updated our Articles of Incorporation with the State of WI and officially became a benefit corporation. Being a Benefit Corporation formally demonstrates our commitment to the public and the environment.
 
Workers
  1. Drafted and shared formal SCC Breastfeeding Policy to support lactating employees across teams, no matter their position, location, or employment status. (Officially added to the Employee Handbook in 2021.)
  2. Maintained insurance costs for hourly employees, keeping in line with our commitment to make healthcare accessible for our employees.
  3. Formed our Employee Council. This group consists of one representative from each of our cafes, bakery, and production teams at Stone Creek Coffee. This representative is nominated by their team to meet with Eric, Managing Director and Co-Owner, every other month to discuss items that can be improved within their work spaces or the company as a whole as it relates to day-to-day operations. Specific work items generated through the Employee Council include but are not limited to: requesting mental health days as an added benefit, exploring expression of personalities through more flexible dress code and music choice in work spaces, updating shift drink benefits to include non-dairy products, increasing our vegan and gluten-friendly food menu, greater access to coffee equipment for cafe teams, such as a third espresso grinder, improvements to employee training and access to online HR and benefits tools, and added opportunities to celebrate employees, such as on their birthday.
  4. Employees paid in full during COVID-19 shutdown in order to guarantee wage security. 
  5. Social Justice Donation Matching: Over the course of Summer of 2020 and in line with Stone Creek Coffee’s social obligation to our community, all employee donations made to social justice organizations were matched by Stone Creek Coffee. Employees were encouraged to make donations to local social justice organizations making change in our community such as Wisconsin Voices and MKE LGBT Community Center.  Over the course of the summer, 21 employees donated $5,077.46 to different social justice organizations across Milwaukee and the US that were matched by Stone Creek Coffee. Together, with our employees, we have donated $10,154.92.
  6. Increased amount of paid sick time for all employees (16 hours/year)
     
Community 
  1. Donated food and beverage items to employees during COVID-19 shut-down.
  2. Supplier Screening Topics implemented across the company. This premade list of screening topics serves to better screen our potential suppliers to ensure that they do things such as: follow all laws, possess good governance practices, gives preference to local suppliers, and more.
  3. Supplier Code of Conduct implemented across the company. This document outlines how we expect our partners and suppliers to conduct themselves and their business in an ethical, legal, and socially responsible manner including, but not limited to, their commitment to the environment, their employees, and the community. 
  4. We made a formal commitment to our local community and hiring. In doing so, we have committed to serving our local community by making a commitment to serve local customers, hire locally, and choose local suppliers when possible.
  5. We made available a list of our significant suppliers on our website.

Environment
  1. We began monitoring and recording our energy use via a master spreadsheet.
  2. We began monitoring and recording our waste production via a master spreadsheet.
  3. We made the switch to renewable, wind-powered electrical energy at all of our facilities. 
  4. We implemented a Hazardous Waste Disposal Policy across the company.
  5. We implemented an Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy. 
  6. We implemented a Travel Policy Addendum which limits corporate travel.
  7. We made a formal policy statement about our commitment to the environment.

Customers
  1. COVID-19 Shut-down Donations: To keep all of our employees and customers safe, we shut down our cafes in mid-March due to the spread of Coronavirus. Since we weren’t going to be serving customers and our cafes held perishable products, we donated them to local food pantries and shelters around Milwaukee and Lake Country. Donations included hundreds of gallons of milk, fresh bakery items, bottled beverages, and more.
  2. Social Justice Donations: In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement happening across our country and the tragic murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless other innocent people around our country, Stone Creek Coffee donated $2,000 to the Equal Justice Initiative and Radio Milwaukee and their ‘Community Stories’ initiative to help them tell our history.
  3. 10,000 Thank You’s for Teachers and Staff: The 2020 school year looked different for many of us. We understand the challenges that regularly come with teaching, but 2020 came along with more barriers to overcome. To show our appreciation for those members of our community, we committed to make this donation. By the end of 2020, we donated 5,724 pounds, although this project is continuing into 2021 until it is seen through completion. As of March 4th, 2021, we have donated 6,726lbs. 
  4. 1,000 Pounds of Coffee: Stone Creek Coffee partnered with local food banks in March and April 2020 to donate 1,000 pounds of coffee to those in need in our community. In addition, Stone Creek Coffee highlighted community resources and food banks on our social media platforms to spread awareness of assistance available to those in need and to potential volunteers that were willing to help out. 1,000 pounds of coffee was donated to five Milwaukee area food banks including Hunger Task Force and UW-Milwaukee Food Center and Pantry.
  5. Neighbor Loaves: Stone Creek Coffee utilized its unused oven time and our many talented bakers to give back to our community via the Neighbor Loaves program. By purchasing Neighbor Loaves, freshly baked bread was donated directly to the Riverwest Food Pantry. We partnered with the Artisan Grain Collaborative, Meadowlark Organics, and Lonesome Stone Milling to make this program happen. We sold, baked, and donated 711 loaves of bread for the Riverwest Food Pantry. In 2021, we are continuing and expanding this project to a “Buy a Loaf, Give a Loaf” program in our cafes.
  6. Community Fridge Milwaukee: Stone Creek believes that a cup of coffee has the power to heal. In this spirit, we are now supporting the Milwaukee Community Fridge. Each month, a donation of 30, 2.25oz fractional packs of coffee is donated to the Community Fridge. This is an ongoing project.
  7. Community Coffee Donation Boxes: Stone Creek Coffee takes pride in supporting organizations that make our community a better place to live, work, and play. Our goal is to extend deeper within communities in which we operate, by partnering with and supporting organizations that share our values and goals. Stone Creek Coffee offers donations of brewed coffee and gift boxes for raffles. We do not make cash donations unless we are closely involved with an organization. Groups that take priority are non-profit 501c3 organizations, local schools, youth organizations, and businesses we regularly work with. Stone Creek donates a minimum of 9 gift boxes (valued at $40) each month. 
  8. Bake the Vote: Bake the Vote is an international bake sale effort under the Bakers Against Racism banner to raise money for organizations working for fair elections. Our Bakery team made and donated pastries to this citywide bake sale, and proceeds from the sale were donated to Wisconsin Voices, an organization “supporting creative ways to mobilize and empower people across the state.” Our Bakery team made 100 fruit galettes that were donated.
  9. Love your Parks: To support Milwaukee County Parks and their ‘Love Your Parks’ campaign, Stone Creek Coffee teamed up with our friends at Milwaukee County Parks to create a half pound bag of coffee called Love Your Parks. $2 of every purchase of this short run coffee was donated to Milwaukee County Parks. We sold 1,706 bags of Love Your Parks and were able to donate $3,413 to the Milwaukee Parks Department as part of this Brewing Change collaboration. Our goal was to sell 500 bags of Love Your Parks coffee and donate over $1,000 to our County Park system, but with our customers’ support, we surpassed that goal. 
  10. Rally for Ally: For each half-pound of the short-run coffee Rally for Ally sold, Stone Creek would make a donation to the Alyssa Anna Pape Endowment Fund. We were able to donate $956 to this fund, which helps support the Herma Heart Institute at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin.
  11. Participated in Dressember: Human trafficking is a global problem, which doesn’t exclude Milwaukee. Dressember is now a global event where you commit to wearing a dress or tie everyday in the month of December. For every pound of coffee sold on December 4th, 2020, Stone Creek donated $1. In total, we raised awareness for human trafficking as well as donated $397 to the Dressember movement.
     
We look forward to continuing to benefit those around us in 2021! 
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