Washington Family Business Awards 2012: Community Winner, Grounds for Change

COMMUNITY WINNER:
Grounds for Change

City: Poulsbo
Employees: 6

We wanted to cultivate a business that would allow us to live out our values, says Kelsey Marshall, cofounder and president of Grounds for Change, a small coffee roaster dedicated to bringing the principles of environmental stability and social justice to the coffee industry. The idea was sparked in Costa Rica, where Marshalls wife, Stacy, was traveling with EcoTeach and learning about leatherback turtle conservation.

Starting small with a website (Kelsey Marshall had worked in e-commerce) and investment money from their parents, the couple, with Stacys brother, Mike Williams, as lead roaster, launched Grounds for Change in 2003. Living out their values takes the form of everything from sourcing shade grown, fair trade beans to a baby-at-work policy (employees can bring their babies to the office during the first eight months). It is also the first third-party-certified, carbon-free coffee company in
the country.

The Marshalls commitment to community reaches far across the globe and as near as their backyard: Grounds for Change is a long-standing member of 1% for the Planet, whose members donate at least 1 percent of their annual net revenue to environmental organizations, and it supports environmental education programs at Suquamish Elementary School on the Kitsap Peninsula.

More information: Washington Family Business Awards 2012