PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — It all started as an idea. Volunteers and people who work for Framework Church in Presque Isle were trying to find a way to become more involved in the community and do more to help the town grow.
"They were looking for just something that they could use to get out into the community," manager Dave Rowe said.
The relatively new storefront on Main Street strives to be a "hub" for community.
When revenue allows, organizers said Hub Coffee plans to help community members in need with a small portion of the funds that it makes.
"It could be coming alongside some of the agencies that are located here just to say, 'What can we do?'" Rowe said.
From the get-go, the dream was for the shop to also the dream be a form of outreach, Rowe said.
"Never anticipated that it would come to fruition, that it would be a reality," Victoria Rowe, a barista at Hub and the pastor of worship and development at Framework Church, said.
For the past few years, Rowe said, the town has been hungry for more community and more ways to build community.
"This really has created the space for me to fall in love with Presque Isle again and to fall in love with the town that I live in," Rowe added. "The name Hub Coffee is really something we wanted to riff off of Presque Isle, something that's really localized. They call Presque Isle the hub of Aroostook [County]."
Customer Jim Carter and his friends enjoy the weekly visits at Hub.
"We try to hit here two of three times a week. It's the same group of friends that come down here and enjoy their coffee, several different blends, and we kind of enjoy that," Carter said.
Click here to learn more about Hub Coffee.