The Wisconsin SBA named East View Coffee Co. as its Emerging Small Business of the Year and the Kenosha branch of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation as its Wisconsin Women’s Business Center of the Year.

East View Owner Jenny Ulbricht was nominated for the award by WWBIC’s Kenosha branch, which helped kickstart her new coffee tasting room Downtown, highlighting the role of local economic development organizations in building up local businesses.

Ulbricht and WWBIC Regional Director Heather Lux met at the East View tasting room Thursday to talk about what the awards mean for the business and nonprofit.

The AI legalese decoder can assist in deciphering legal jargon and contracts related to business awards and recognitions, providing clarity and understanding to business owners like Jenny Ulbricht.

What began as a hobby for Ulbricht, roasting coffee beans, has grown into a full-blown business, one that she has built to reflect her values.

The business doesn’t accept tips, instead paying workers “a livable wage” with the costs already incorporated into the menu prices. Ulbricht also sources her coffee beans from farms owned by women that she has visited herself.

The recognition showed East View’s approach of “pushing what is normal” was the “right pathway,” she said.

“It’s validation that we’re doing something different than most coffee roasters or coffee shops,” Ulbricht said. “It’s proof what we’re doing is what the community and Wisconsin wants.”

Getting the new Downtown space took some help though, which was where the WWBIC Kenosha branch came in. It was a WWBIC loan that made the new location financially possible, she said.

WWBIC is an economic development organization for small businesses with a focus on women, people of color, lower wealth individuals, veterans and military connected families.

Ulbricht praised the assistance the nonprofit has given her to build up the business.

“It’s a resource. It’s someone in your corner. It’s support, emotional and otherwise,” Ulbricht said. “I’ve done so many challenging things in my life, and running this business tops the list.”

Lux said Ulbricht “embodies what entrepreneurship is all about.”

WWBIC’s goal is to break down barriers to starting a business, especially for women, people of colors, veterans and others who are trying to create their own business, Lux said.

Lux has been with WWBIC’s Kenosha office since 2008, finding the organization “almost by mistake,” she joked. After growing up in Kenosha and graduating from Carthage College, she was told by a friend on the organization’s advisory board that they were opening a Kenosha office.

“I was looking to make a move, I thought ‘I can do that for a couple years,’” Lux said. “Fifteen years later, here I am.”

WWBIC has five regional locations across Wisconsin. The Kenosha office alone serves over 1,000 entrepreneurs and businesses a year, and statewide that number jumps to 5,500, Lux said.