News and Observer

Everyday I ride by the Lafayette Development wondering when construction is going to pick back up. I've been in contact with the development and it seems that they have been waiting on financing from their lender. Yes the economy is down and times may seem difficult but it is still important to move forward and not backwards. That is exactly what Lafayette is doing....Yesterday the News and Observer released an article in the business section on the development. They even mention the coffee shop. In case you missed it here is a link to the article. More to come!
http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/1256835.html

Update

Wow! sorry I have not updated the blog in awhile. Honestly I didn't know anyone read about us and the coffee shop but have recently been asked by several friends why I haven't posted any new updates. We are still moving along with things and while it may be in slow motion, the ball is still rolling forward. We meet with the development later this week to discuss construction timelines. Hopefully by this weekend we will have a better understanding of when we will open. We wanted to attach a drawing of a possibility of what the inside layout may look like. I, Andrew, visit many coffee shops, mentally taking note of what works and what doesn't. While I am no architect, I am fascinated by the concept of restaurant design and the utilization of space. Yes Starbucks is king but there is not much about it that I like, atleast when you've been to other community coffee shops. This first design option is a bar design that Ron Cox help me design. There are two main entrances. One side faces the parking lot for the early morning crowd to quickly get in and out. The other entrance opens to the courtyard to accomadate those looking for a relaxing afternoon or evening getaway under the three large oaks. Let us know what you think....you won't hurt our feelings!

J-Money is back

This has been a crazy week for the Cash's.  Our grandma Mary passed away over the weekend here in Raleigh, but we have been celebrating her life with friends and family.  My grandma always enjoyed our spontaneous humor, so it is only fitting to provide a link to this amazing youtube post.  Enjoy

Executive Summary

Jubala’s Story

Jubala Village Coffee is a business venture where caring individuals representing diverse backgrounds have come together in hopes to launch a self sustaining company while giving back to the communities around them. Andrew and Jeff Cash have a history of giving their time, energy, and resources to those who need it most. When Andrew and Jeff returned home from trips to Africa, India, Mexico, and other third world countries in 2004, they both agreed that it was their common desire to create a profitable company grounded in the desire to give. After approaching Philip Rogers, a graduate student at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government, and Emily Cash, also a graduate student at UNC-Chapel Hill, the group began discussing (in 2005) the feasibility of launching a coffee company with the social responsibility to give back to the communities around them. Bill Chiaravalle of Brand Navigation (http://www.brandnavigation.com/) heard and shared the same ideas of these four individuals. In 2006, Chiaravalle acted on this vision and developed the brand, Jubala Village Coffee. Since early 2006, the group of five have planned, researched, and pitched their concept to individuals in the Raleigh community. The team plans to open the doors of the first Jubala Village Coffeehouse in early 2009 in Raleigh, NC.

Jubala’s Plan

Jubala Village Coffee will work with their roaster, Counter Culture Coffee (http://www.counterculturecoffee.com/), to produce unique, high quality coffee and espresso based drinks for the North Raleigh community. The goal of Jubala and Counter Culture Coffee is to provide a unique coffee experience while educating it’s consumers on the social impact their purchases make on the communities in which the coffee comes from. Jubala and Counter Culture take pride in the quality that goes into every drink served to its market. Ranging between the sun-dried tradition of drip coffee from Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia to a flavorful raspberry mocha served in a porcelain mug and topped with a dollop of cream, Jubala will take the necessary steps to produce a memorable product for this underserved North Raleigh market. Andrew and Jeff agree with Counter Culture Coffee in that they have a responsibility both to consumers and to the growers. A portion of the profit Jubala makes off each coffee blend will go back into helping the specific region in which that coffee comes from. This may include helping the farmers learn better farming practices, providing villages with valuable economic resources such as water and food, or helping the local people get better access to education to help spur them past their economic struggles. The sub-saharan region of Africa offers some of the richest and flavorful coffee origins from around the world, yet this region is also considered to be an area hardest hit with economic struggle. By providing high quality coffee and having a social responsibility, Jubala Village Coffee will be a leader in the North Raleigh specialty coffee market.
The coffee provided through Counter Culture Coffee is highly regarded not only in the Raleigh/Durham area but also all along the east coast. Currently CCC roasts for downtown Raleigh favorite, Helios, recipient of several best coffee awards, Chapel Hill’s well known 3 Cups, and Abraco, recently named by New York Times as New York’s best cup of coffee.

Jubala’s Key to Success
The key to Jubala’s success is educating a market of white collar men and women about how their purchases can help benefit those around them and those in the world who are less fortunate. Raleigh, North Carolina is consistently named one of the best places to live and do business. The city of Raleigh is considered one of the fastest growing cities in the country with most of its growth occurring in the northern part of the city. The state’s capital city is nestled in the center of North Carolina just hours from both the mountains and the beach. Raleigh is also unique in that it is surrounded by some of the nation’s top public and private universities and teaching hospitals.
These attributes along with the mild climate and close proximity to Research Triangle Park are some of the reasons that attract so many men and women to live and work in our state. Recently, North Raleigh has become a popular place to live and raise families for the white collar businessmen and women of the Triangle. Jubala’s market will primarily consist and cater to those individuals that live in the surrounding North Raleigh neighborhoods and those individuals using Falls of the Neuse Road and I-540 as the main traffic arteries to and from work. The new I-540 interstate, connecting Research Triangle Park to US-64 in Zebulon has provided the boom in growth occurring in North Raleigh. The first Jubala Village Coffeehouse (Lafayette Development) will be on the corner of Falls of the Neuse Road and Honeycutt Road at the I-540 exit. While North Raleigh is a great birthplace for Jubala, the owners of this company wish to expand their company throughout the South East United States.

Definition of Juballer

I think this video pretty much sums up the characteristics of a Juballer...Do you have what it takes?

Lafayette Devlopment / Jubala Village Coffee layout

So today we are meeting with the architect of the development and a restaurant supply house to talk about how we are going to outfit our space. I am not sure if this takes any sort of decorating skill, but if it does Jeff and I may need get close and personal with our feminine side, which will probably be much easier for Jeff than myself. When we get a chance to scan the dimensions of the inside of the space we will post it on here so you too can let the decorator in you go to work. I am going to put a link to the Lafayette development website on here as well ( http://www.lafayettevillageraleigh.com/ ). Our space is the second spot from the left in Building B. It will have two main entrances. One entrance will face Honeycutt road and the other entrance will open into a green courtyard that will serve as the main outdoor dining area for the development. The idea with this location is take advantage of both morning and afternoon/evening traffic. In the morning most of our customers will park closer and enter through the Honeycutt entrance, grab what they want (pay of course), and then either stay or leave for work. In the afternoon/evening we anticipate more of our customers using the other side taking advantage of the beautiful landscape and architecture that the development will provide. Then again we have no clue what to expect. I don't even know what I am going to do when I start my own day, so it is hard for me to predict how other people will use our spot. So start thinking about how you would design your own coffee shop and let us know if you have any good ideas.

Welcome

Before you ask what a Juballer is let us inform you that this is not a title that we came up with on our own. Actually we aren't really sure where it came from but since we have started using it we have been hooked. It's kind of like when you go to pound fists with someone instead of shaking their hands - You have no clue when and where you were first introduced to the fist pounding practice, but somehow it has subconsciously become apart of your typical greeting. For us, Juballer is and has been used in the same way. Juballer is actually a compound. You know - when two words are pushed together to form one new word. In this case we not only pushed two words together, but we got crazy and dropped a few letters as well. You'll understand soon. Take for instance another great compound word created by the great Chad Hood (www.thinkingchad.blogspot.com) and yours truly - "Churffee". What do you get when you put church and coffee together (?), a delicious cup of churffee.

So getting to our point and the purpose of this welcome post to the Juballer blogger. We (Jeff and Andrew) refer to each other, and every now and then the people dear to our hearts, as Juballers. Juballer is the compound of Jubala and baller. This would probably be the best time to introduce another new word/concept to you as well, "Jubala." Jubala is the name of the coffee house we are opening in North Raleigh (hopefully around Dec 08). Pause, re-read...yep that is correct, with neither of us ever taking a course in entrepreneurship we heard God's calling and decided to be obedient and take the financial dive into the free enterprise system called capitalism. We could go on and on in details about what Jubala is going to be like, but to be quite honest we still aren't sure. Two years ago our coffee house concept was very different than it is today, and our plans are constantly changing and adjusting everyday. Thus the purpose of this blog is to help track our progress in the next year towards opening and update you, our friends, on the evolution of Jubala. But back to the second part of Juballer, baller. Baller is a term used, and actually may no longer be that 'hip' of a word, to describe someone that does something ridiculously well. Originally it referred to basketball players that made it off the streets and into the NBA, but is now more broadly used. Lets face the truth though: 1) we are just a couple of average twenty something white guys that know nothing about being cool or how to use correct street terminology, and 2) neither of us really do anything ridiculously well enough to be given the title "baller". But in our own world, just to make each other feel better, we find comfort in calling each other, "Juballer."

Welcome to our Blog! We hope this will be a space that will provide updates on our lives, the Jubala Village Coffeehouse, and other useful and pertinent information. But most importantly we hope that many more of you will desire to become future Juballers. We wish the very best for you, and welcome any and all comments. God Bless