Innovation

Over 20,000 prisoners are released from Illinois State corrections facilities into the Chicago area every year. More than 12,000 of those ex-prisoners are re-incarcerated within three years of release (2nd highest rate in the nation). The cycle of recidivism is a ubiquitous tale of wasted lives and victimized communities that is repeated among the nearly one million post-prison people in communities across the US each year.

Second Chance Coffee Company employs ex-felons—those who typically find it very difficult to find jobs—and provides them meaningful employment, training them and giving them an opportunity to find their footing and acclimate to post-prison norms. Their transitional employment-friendly model also helps them prepare employees for the next stage of their career, establishing relationships with outside partners to handle other aspects of post-prison life. The company is also is trying to change the broader perception of people who serve time. They want other employers to look at what they are doing and the quality of their product and say, “Maybe I should not ignore someone just because they have a felony conviction.” In this sense, they are encouraging other businesses to follow suit, showing it can be profitably done.

Their social innovation also includes technical innovations, which helps employees onboard much more quickly than conventional means while improving quality. Founder Pete Leonard has invented a coffee roasting machine (from its humble roots to the “Bean Master 5000”) and a proprietary software process so they could deliver the best, most consistent product, highlighting the delicate flavor and aroma of every coffee sold. Roasting in small batches also allows I Have a Bean coffee to offer same-day service and the freshest possible product.

The Second Chance Coffee Company supports 5 UN SDGs, with the core one supporting “Decent Work and Economic Growth,” where they “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.” Other SDG’s include “Reduced Inequalities,” “Sustainable Cities and Communities,” “Responsible Consumption and Production” and “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.”

Inspiration

Founder Pete first developed a love of freshly roasted coffee during a missions trip to Brazil when his eyes and taste buds were opened as he first experienced the rich and aromatic taste of coffee roasted over an open fire there in the jungle. He brought back 22 pounds of coffee beans to give away as gifts—but he ended up consuming all of it. Afterward, he couldn’t go back to his local coffeehouse product, and as a result, he set out to build his own makeshift coffee roasting machine at home through Ikea parts, pots and a Weber grill. It was about this time that he witnessed a family member struggling mightily to find work after he got out of prison—“nobody wanted to touch him” – despite his many talents and background.

This led him down the path to start a business marrying the two concepts—giving felons a second chance while providing great tasting premium coffee, a category that is growing rapidly. An analysis of the market shows that about 83% of American adults drink coffee with 59% daily consumption classified as “gourmet”—a trend that fits very nicely with the Second Chance Coffee Company product line. Pete started with one employee roasting a half a day per week before growing exponentially. It now roasts daily and is sold in farmer’s markets, high-end grocery stores and its own website.

“Our dream is that men and women will no longer be judged by the errors of their past, but will be known instead by the present evidence of the content of their character.” Pete states that this is the “hardest thing I’ve done in my life… but also the most rewarding. Watching lives get changed gets me up [every day] in the morning.” He notes that every employee—has the same key to building as himself.

Overall impact

“Life is too short for bad coffee.” With Pete’s proprietary roasting system, the company has a much finer control of the roasting process. While most high-end coffee is roasted and checked manually (for example, a national premium competitor manually checks the temperature once a minute), Second Chance’s Bean Master 5000 is able to check temperatures and other variables at ten times per second. They select only the top 1% of beans, ensuring I Have a Bean produces some of the most premium blends one will find on the market. They have entered several (blind taste test) competitions against many large local and national roasters—and have never lost a single one to date.

On the societal side, the recidivism rate for Second Chance Coffee is less than four percent. This is in contrast to the fifty percent rate for the broader state population. They have employed over 50 ex-felons so far through the years. With regards to the financial impact, it is estimated that recidivism costs the state of Illinois $1.2 billion. Through the Second Chance Coffee Company, the state has been able to save $4 million dollars in recidivism savings alone.

Not only have they been able to impact society by keeping felons from going back to prison, but they also support them to begin their new life with dignity, launching them to other higher-order vocational positions that allow them to serve society. By re-imagining who they are, they reverse the cycle of recidivism and cause a ripple effect that positively impacts their extended family and the broader community they are part of.

Business benefit

This year they are on track to cross the one million dollar mark in revenues. They have provided career launching pads for over fifty felons and currently employ eight full-time staff, along with part-timers who help out with the areas like selling at cafés.

New markets are being planned, which trigger community investments to provide broader support to not only bring employment as a local coffee roaster, but partners with local civic institutions to provide invaluable social support as well. This franchise ownership model allows these underserved communities to participate in the economic gains benefiting the local area, further reinvesting in the community.

One of the greatest benefits of this social innovation is the life-changing impact on their employees. Employees who go through Second Chance Coffee Company have gone on to successful careers in leading non-profits, becoming lead auto mechanics, accounting, etc. Shame and disgrace and attitudes of “I’m worthless” or "I can’t do anything good” is replaced with pride and dignity, as they can point to how they were able to bring such a quality product to market. Most have expressed deep gratitude for the opportunity that was afforded to them when no one gave them a chance.

Because they have automated the roasting process, this significantly reduces the amount of training time for their employees (in contrast to a 2-year apprenticeship at a well-known roaster, Second Chance Coffee requires only a half a day to train someone on their roasting process). This allows for new employees to be onboarded so much quicker and allows for a broader diversity of people to participate in an otherwise very complicated process.

Social and environmental benefit

In contrast to other coffee companies who donate part of their proceeds to charity just to help sell their coffee, Second Chance Coffee is mission-built from the ground up (not “crappy causal coffee”) with the highest product quality. Says Pete: “The coffee we roast needs to be in the top 1% from a quality standpoint. We have employees because they have the label of ‘felon,’ are seen by society as being in the bottom 1% from a ‘human quality standpoint.’ But here, they are producing product that is rated in the top 1%. We’re doing that so that the quality of their work will change the perception of the public.”

Because of the upfront effort in selecting the best beans and automating a process to consistently deliver even quality, this model is inherently scalable. In fact, Second Chance Coffee is in advanced discussions to place another roaster in one of the most underserved and crime-ridden neighborhoods in Chicago. The ultimate goal is to plant roasters in the largest prison populations all across the US, to serve as many felons coming out of jail as possible. These roasting plants will be jointly partnered with the local communities, with local underserved communities investing into the venture while providing valuable community support. From coffee roasters, Second Chance Coffee hopes to expand into coffee shops to go with them (people with good barista experience can get a job at other locations, regardless of background). Eventually, the goal is to have everything vertically integrated (e.g., micro-dairy ecosystems), employing ex-felons with life-saving jobs that can launch their new life post prison.

From a sustainability and environmental standpoint, Second Coffee is “fairly traded” (Pete notes that Fair Trade does not check for quality nor actually pays the farmer—the mill does) in economic regions like Nicaragua and Ethiopia, working through select importers on the ground that pay rates much higher than the mills. Because they use electric (95% of all roasters use gas) in their roasting process, they have a zero carbon footprint, with 3x more energy conserved. They aren’t standing still; a new and improved machine with greater capacity is in the works.

Interviews

Pete Leonard, Founder

Louis Dooley, Former Sales Director

Amy Van Keuren, Plant Manager