Dionna’s Recipe for Inclusivity and Coffee at Java’s Enchanged Bean

When Dionna Brenamen, from the small town of Fostoria, Ohio, was coming up on her 30th anniversary of working in Insurance and Finance, she realized that she had reached a crossroads.

 

“I had a dream of opening a mom-and-pop type of diner,” she explained, “so I had to decide if I wanted to pursue a similar dream or stay in Finance for the next twenty years.”

 

As she deliberated, one of her acquaintances closed on a large building in downtown Fostoria and told her that he wanted to eventually have a coffee shop in a portion of the space.

 

“Do you have someone to operate it?” she asked.

 

“No one yet,” he replied.

 

Shortly after that intriguing conversation, Dionna and her husband and brother toured the space. It was a blank slate, with hardly any electricity but tons of potential. “It was going to be a labor of love,” Dionna said. They decided to move forward with the shop, Java’s Enchanted Bean.

 

Her friend Sarah Stephens Krupp, the director of the Fostoria Area Chamber of Commerce, recommended that Dionna sign up for the Chamber’s first CO.STARTERS Core cohort. At first, Dionna was hesitant–she’d already done business planning courses and felt like she had a good grip on the process.

 

What she didn’t expect, though, was that CO.STARTERS Core would help Dionna discover her business’s trajectory. CO.STARTERS’ emphasis on listening to the customer and the community helped Dionna in the early stages of developing Java’s Enchanted Bean.

 

“CO.STARTERS had a way of getting to business planning quickly, not drawing it out as other courses did. It was direct and clear, and it didn’t feel like it was guiding us all to the same end result, but rather the course that my individual business would and should take.”

 

Entrepreneurship in Fostoria had been increasing, due in part to CO.STARTERS Core graduates starting businesses. The Fostoria Chamber, council people, business owners, and potential business owners were working together to develop the downtown. Dionna realized that listening to the community’s needs was going to be key to building a sustainable business.

 

“Fostoria is a rural community with its own unique personality. To avoid failing, it has been important to listen to what the community wanted.”

 

“CO.STARTERS had a way of getting to business planning quickly, not drawing it out like other courses did. It was direct and clear, and it didn’t feel like it was guiding us all to the same end result, but rather the course that my individual business would and should take.”

 

Community is the foundational ingredient of Java’s Enchanted Bean, which opened in June 2022. Their tagline is “Built upon inclusiveness of culture and community,” and that’s evident in every aspect of the shop. When customers enter the shop, the first thing they see is a star that one of Dionna’s daughters painted on the wall to symbolize that the place is a space for anyone and everyone to come together. Dionna’s mission was to create an inclusive community hub.

 

And it’s worked.

 

Sometimes, during business hours, the cafe hosts local musicians and artists and coordinates with other small businesses to put on local events.

 

Java’s Enchanted Bean has also gathered dedicated regulars, including a group of gentlemen who come on Saturday mornings, a group of women who come on Tuesday mornings, and a local knitting and crocheting group who meet on Thursdays.

 

“You have to be creative,” Dionna explains. “People want a space where they can feel comfortable and accepted. There has to be a bigger story than simply making a living.”

 

Java’s Enchanted Bean has created that comfortable, inviting space in downtown Fostoria and, in the process, has become a vital part of the rural town’s growing entrepreneurial movement.