CEO MONTHLY / Global CEO Excellence Awards 2022 28 Best Organic Coffee Manufacturing CEO (USA): Erin Willman Founded by 22-year-old Erin Willman, White Cane Coffee is a coffee shop located along the Allegheny River in Warren, PA, which offers a wide range of blends to satisfy all coffee needs. Not only is Erin a trailblazing young entrepreneur who is inspiring young women to follow their dreams, but she is leading a much bigger movement: normalising disabled people in the workplace. When Erin was fifteen, she lost her vision. It was then that people started telling her what she could not do, but she wanted to show them what she could do. Erin had applied for jobs but was turned away because of her disability. Thus, she decided that instead of letting other people turn her away, she would create her own job and in just one year became the CEO of her own company. What started as an idea on a bad day has now become a booming business that has put Erin’s coffee on the shelves of several shops in different cities – but this is just the beginning. White Cane Coffee’s main store front is located in Warren, PA on the corner of 3rd Avenue and Conewango Avenue, and sells an assortment of organic coffee: whole bean, ground, compostable K-cups, and cold brew. As well as amazing coffee, inclusiveness is the main focus at White Cane Coffee. Each package that coffee comes in is printed with a label containing braille. This was just one of Erin’s brilliant ideas to become more inclusive because “why would people who are blind not be able to shop for themselves?” White Cane Coffee is one of the first companies to have all its products contain braille. White Cane Coffee provides jobs for the handicapped community at a liveable wage. The shop is currently providing eight jobs to disabled workers. The goal is to allow them to have freedoms they should receive elsewhere but are wrongfully deprived of. By creating the jobs that White Cane Coffee does, it is changing the lives of these people. Erin and her family always say, “If you can change one person’s life, you are changing the world.” These jobs go deeper than just pay; they bring hope to employees to show them that they too matter and are a working part of something much bigger. Erin even brought her employees with her to a business dinner meant for the CEOs of the companies in Warren Country. She believes they are just as important as she is to the company. Like any other company, White Cane Coffee’s profit goes to pay the employees to allow them to have a liveable wage. But that’s not all its profit benefits – The company also supports The Sight Center for Northwest Pennsylvania, an organisation whose mission is to prevent blindness and promote independence for those with vision loss (www. sightcenternwpa.com). Through this organisation, Erin and White Cane Coffee have been able to support a leader dog named Erin, with a portion of the money being given to support his training. Erin is unable to have her own dog due to an allergy, but decided to help with the cost for another person. Recently, Erie has been sent to Michigan for his final training. This is a programme that will continuously receive White Cane Coffee’s support. Erin spends much of her time working with schools and organisations that specialise in teaching the blind and disabled. She is exceptionally proud of the School for Blind Children in Pittsburgh. Erin visited them and saw their programme designed to encourage work and self-reliance for their students. These skills are vital to independence. Additionally, Erin had the opportunity to speak at the National Federation of the Blind Convention in Harrisburg PA to share her message of hope and encouragement. Her opening statement was, “When you lost your vision, people stood in line to tell you what you can’t do; now, let’s talk about what you can do.” She also said, “You have value, you have worth, and you can live an independent life”, bringing faith and excitement to the hundreds of people in attendance. Warren County Children’s Advocacy Center is another one of the many programmes that White Cane Coffee supports, with Erin saying, “They speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.” They have their own blend of coffee and for each bag or box sold, a portion of the proceeds go to them. White Cane Coffee also provides fundraising for anyone interested. When you fundraise through White Cane Coffee, it does not up the price from its store pricing. Everything is one price and the organisation gets a portion out of the profit. The reasoning for putting money into other organisations is because it was never Erin’s dream to be the CEO who owns five cars, but her dream is to be the CEO who changes the world. As White Cane Coffee continues to grow and expand, it hopes to help even more people become independent by working with it. Also, it is currently working on some very exciting projects to help it gain the footing it needs to jump to the next level as a company. Ultimately, the organisation is incredibly thankful to have the amazing support it receives from the community and others, and is so proud of what it has already been able to accomplish. Company: White Cane Coffee Company Contact: Erin Willman Email: [email protected] Website: www.whitecanecoffee.com
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