Arlington County Government, VA Made in Arlington, 14 Jan 2016

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From YouTube: Made in Arlington | Commonwealth Joe

Description

Commonwealth Joe is a coffee roasting company that is local & family operated in in Northern Virginia. They recently took over operations of the retail coffee shop Java Shack in Courthouse, Arlington. As Co-Owner, Robert Peck tells the story of the company we get a glimpse into the heart and dedication of a small business owner.

http://www.arlingtoneconomicdevelopment.com/

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You know it really hurt me. You know when, when some people would would say to me Robbie, when are you when are you gonna go back to your real job? You have to take risks to start businesses, and you know I think my parents, they really supported me. They believed in me, but I think they were scared too.

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My name is Robert Peck and I'm, a co-founder and the current CEO of Commonwealth Joe I used to work in this coffee shop in Culpepper Virginia, where I grew up and I got into making drinks there, and my mom also worked there, but she was a manager and started getting into roasting coffee, but eventually those owners they actually shut down their coffee shop.

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She was played just so sad that the coffee shop was leaving and she made an offer to buy the equipment and my mom started a one-person business and she was, you know so excited to be the proud owner of this coffee roasting business and to continue her passion for coffee as the as the years went on in college, like it was really sad to see you know my mom's business turned more into a hobby and I wanted. I always wanted to see her succeed at that I.

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Got together with a few friends who I went to school with, and we had the idea that maybe we could reignite this dream, so we thought maybe we could create a new brand Commonwealth of Joe and try to share my mom's passion, left my full-time job and came full time into Commonwealth Joe and there's been no looking back since this was what I was really passionate about was helping to reignite her dream.

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After leaving my job, I came into the Java, Shack and I had been here before, but this time I was coming with samples with the intention to see if they would be interested in in possibly using our coffee. You know so I came in one day and Dale who started Java Shack. He he happened to be working here. That day and I. Remember, I went up to the register right here and started talking with Dale about coffee. You know I think he saw a little bit of his passion. That he's had this long.

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In me, the next year Dale and I became actually really good friends and he kind of became a mentor and coffee.

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We were talking and he said, I'm gonna be getting out of the coffee business I mean I was like well what what's gonna happen to Java Shack, and you know he looked at me and he said well, you know I, don't really know well Dale if, if you'd consider it we'd be very interested in carrying the torch and buying the business and keeping it running and ultimately that manifested into purchase of the Java Shack business.

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Our mission at Commonwealth Joe is to make amazing coffee approachable. Now we name all of our coffees after things that inspire us in Virginia, Blue Ridge bluff was named after the Blue Ridge Parkway skyline over look after Skyline Drive, but for the vast majority of people we like to name our coffees, something friendly and we choose a different color for every coffee.

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The time that it's roasted and put in the bags. It's sealed airtight, we ship out the beans immediately and the coffee gets the Java Shack the next day. Whenever you buy a bag of coffee here, you still should look at the rose state, but you don't need to because every bag you're gonna find here was roasted in the past few weeks.

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We want coffees that when we drink it, it makes us think of experiences memories places in Virginia. It's usually very easy to pick a good coffee, I mean there's a lot that goes into it, but when we try a great coffee, we know that we want it.

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You know that same feel that friendly environment, that welcoming neighborhood coffee shop, Java Shack, was that's still here and that always will be here.

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My mom, she I think felt really inspired by me, like leaving my job to come to the coffee thing full-time because it wasn't just a bet on myself. It was. It was betting on my mother's. You know old dream of doing this coffee, business and and reigniting that dream and so I think you know when I did that my mom said to me you know: Robby are you? Are you sure this is what you want to do? Is this? What's gonna make you happy, I did I said mom. This is what I want to do.

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This is what I'm being called to do and and I think she hugged me. She just wanted me to be happy.