Last month I had the opportunity to visit Chris Abel, an Edoc associate who lives in Salt Lake City Utah.

While there, we held a meeting at Alpha Coffee, a veteran and military-spouse co-owned and operated coffee company.

In doing so, I saw firsthand how Alpha Coffee is an example of a values-driven company that believes success is about growing a business with purpose. They also believe that true success also includes giving back in the community.

About Alpha Coffee

On September 11, 2010, Alpha Coffee was co-founded by LTC(R) Carl Churchill, a combat veteran with 21 years of service as both an enlisted soldier and officer, and his wife Lori Churchill, a military spouse and coffee lover.

It just so happens that Carl and Edoc’s CEO/Founder Jim Mullaney (also a veteran) met years ago at an INC. Conference and have stayed in touch since—which is how I learned of Carl, Lori, and the company.

From the start, Alpha Coffee (then called Lock-n-Load Java) was a company guided by its principles and mission. They’ve stayed true to the simple mission:

Awesome Coffee

Be A Warrior

Have Fun

Give Back

Be A Warrior

The Alpha Coffee team promotes what they call “the warrior mentality and ethos,” in other words, the Alpha lifestyle.

That includes serving others (servant leadership), living a life of honor, embracing challenge, constantly striving for excellence, staying physically and mentally sharp, connecting with the outdoors and our natural world, and… drinking lots of awesome coffee.

All team members are committed to this spirit and lifestyle, as Carl explained to me on  my visit. They take pride in being part of a company that consistently provides outstanding, top grade premium coffee and serves its community of customers, its employees, and its suppliers with professionalism, honor, dignity, respect and integrity.

Giving Back to the Community

 Alpha Coffee does have amazing coffee—but they also support our military and our veterans.

“Right from the start we set up ‘Giving Back’ as one of our core bullet points in our mission statement. And we decided that we would focus on our local community, and especially giving back to veterans and their families. So we donate money, coffee and support to the charities listed on our website,” explains Carl.

More specifically, a portion of every batch of coffee they roast is sent to deployed troops.

In fact, since September 11, 2010, Alpha Coffee has sent almost 14,000 bags of coffee to deployed troops. As these troops will tell you, there is nothing like a hot cup of awesome to feel the support and love from home.

They also offer a discount to veterans, first responders and teachers—in other words, those who serve the community. “We have worked with the local schools quite a bit as well offering coffee and gift cards for programs that honor teachers who go above and beyond. I have spoken to a number of classes about Veterans Day and we’ve supported PTA events,” adds Carl.

They also host the Pat Tillman Honor Run for SLC, which raises money for its Tillman Scholars program. They’ve served coffee at the local business association breakfast and they host artists in the shop on quarterly art fairs and they give them a chance to sell their goods, too.

“We have also partnered with the local climbing group when they are doing trail days at local climbing spots and likewise with the Utah Avalanche Center,” says Carl.

The giving back doesn’t stop there. They also donate coffee baskets to raise money for non-profits during raffles.

Alpha Coffee looks to give back as much as they can, but they also want to be sure it’s sustainable. “The key is to know how much you can afford and then be able to say no, because if you don’t stay in business, you can’t keep helping long term,” explains Carl.

Stay tuned for more in this series.