POPULAR TOOWOOMBA COFFEE SHOP TO DOUBLE STAFF NUMBERS
BASE Services’ coffee shop – 2nd Shot Espresso – is about a month away from expanding its operation into a neighbouring lease and doubling its staff numbers.
It will go from just a hole-in-thewall coffee shop to cafe-style eatery, offering juices, baked treats and graband-go sandwiches and wraps.
Base Services Director Tiff Spary said the expansion would help the organisation lift more people out of poverty.
“Over the past four years we have trained 143 people and of those 63 have exited homelessness,” she said.
“We are excited that we will be able to do more.”
The expanded operation will give Second Shot the space to train up to 15 staff at one time.
While the expansion was always on the cards Ms Spary said it was made easier by a $19,000 Community Social Enterprise Development Grant.
That money will be used to buy a dishwasher, coffee grinder, juicer, a cake mixer, a blender, deep fryer, an ice machine, milkshake maker, a grill, a cooktop and a convection oven – all of which will be commercial grade.
“The grant has allowed us to have a fully operating kitchen,” Ms Spary said.
2nd Shot Espresso was one of four Toowoomba social enterprises that received a share of $95,000 through the program.
The Emerge cafe, which employs and trains homeless young people, will use its grant to develop a new website, a marketing campaign, and purchase barriers and umbrellas to expand its outdoor dining area to increase capacity.
Purpose Enterprises, which operates the Vanguard Commercial Laundry, will use the grant for expansion to fund new stock and new services.
The laundry employs people from backgrounds of social disadvantage, many of whom have been unemployed for many years.
They undertake a series of personal and professional development courses, delivered by Vanguard’s Social Impact Team and are offered assistance to find a job outside the organisation.
A grant to Lifeline Darling Downs and South West will help it purchase an industrial paper shredder to manage the recycling of waste books from its 21 Op shops and provide extra work experience and employment opportunities.
The project aims to ensure that effective procedures are implemented for the handling, storage, transportation and disposal of waste that is generated from the recycling waste books.