DALTON — Currency Coffee Company follows the money. That is, its coffee, tea, and chocolate products are available in stores across the country wherever a Federal Reserve Bank is located. This is no accident, it’s by design, says owner and founder George Shoemaker. “We’re following a proven model.” Founded in The Stationery Factory in Dalton, they were inspired by the Crane Currency company. Currency paper leaves the Crane factory in Dalton and eventually ends up at a Federal Reserve Bank. Why shouldn’t another Berkshire product follow the same path?
For each currency element Currency Coffee wants to print on their packaging — pictures, fonts, words — they require prior authorization from entities like the U.S. Treasury, The Bureau of Engraving and Printing, The Federal Reserve, and American Banknote Company, to name a few. On their signature Justice Blend coffee, they feature a picture of Lady Justice from a 1880 $50 gold certificate. For their single origin coffees, they display currencies from the coffee beans’ corresponding country of origin: Puerto Rico, Colombia, Ethiopia, and others.
With a background in food service, Shoemaker leveraged his 25+ years of expertise to launch a company selling and consulting on coffee, equipment, and installation. In 2017, he brought on business partner David O’Neill. Shoemaker said he took O’Neill, a retired toy industry executive with 35 years of experience, “off the golf course and out of retirement.” Their skills balance each other — Shoemaker on the technical side and O’Neill on the business side. Shoemaker’s wife Brenda is also a key partner and, as an educator, has helped frame a new accredited coffee course at Berkshire Community College — the first in the country!
The coffee course isn’t the only way Currency Coffee gives back to the community. At the onset of the pandemic, just after they signed a long-term lease for their new space in Pittsfield’s Allendale Shopping Center and simultaneously lost 80% of their customers, Shoemaker, the O’Neills, and their team thought long and hard about the future of the business. They decided to launch the Give One, Give One initiative, through which customers could buy a box of coffee to donate to a frontline worker or organization of their choice. Currency Coffee would donate a second box to another organization. From there, they started delivering coffee directly to consumers, expanded their presence at Big Y Supermarkets across the region, and finally, opened their coffee lounge in the Allendale Underground. Shoemaker reflected on the innovation that emerged from this difficult time: “COVID wasn’t a problem, it was a challenge. It gave us the opportunity to examine our systems and I think we came out of it a stronger company.”
The decision to accept BerkShares was a given. “Of course Currency Coffee would accept our region’s local currency,” Shoemaker said, but the rationale goes deeper. Currency Coffee’s motto is “Value for Value.” That describes a very basic relationship about the procurement of goods and services, but can also be seen as touching on their community values, as money is more than just a medium of exchange, a store of value, or a unit of account. “Being part of the BerkShares program helps us anchor ourselves in the community.” He continued, “We want to help make this work between people, and not just for transactions.”
