Oct. 1, 2019
Contact: Austin Fitzgerald, 573-882-6217, fitzgeraldac@missouri.edu
On Tuesday, the University of Missouri celebrated the grand opening of a new branch of Kaldi’s Coffee at MU’s Trulaske College of Business. The focus of the shop will be to allow students an intimate view of the operations of Kaldi’s Coffee, including global supply chain, human resources management and accounting, to prepare them to be the business leaders of tomorrow.
The occasion was marked by the shop’s first official cup of coffee, which was brewed by Kaldi’s co-owners Tricia Zimmer Ferguson and Josh Ferguson and served to Ajay Vinzé, dean of the College of Business.
“The Kaldi’s presence will be a valuable part of our students’ academic experience by offering practical, real-world education for students in the college of business,” Dean Vinzé said. “Our curriculum will leverage Kaldi’s to illustrate business basics to our students in a unique and meaningful way.”
Through this partnership, students will have a wide variety of opportunities for hands-on learning, including classes that integrate aspects of Kaldi’s business operations into coursework. While Kaldi’s will hire student employees, the college of business will handle the academic side of the partnership.
Located on the second floor of Cornell Hall, the shop offers a full line of drinks and food, and it is the latest effort from the Kaldi’s co-owners to give back to their alma mater. Tricia Zimmer Ferguson is an alumna of Trulaske College of Business, while Josh Ferguson is an alumnus of the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. They also are members of the college of business’s Davenport Society, which recognizes the college’s strongest supporters.
“I’m so excited to begin offering not only great coffee and tea, but great academic experiences to MU’s business students through this partnership with the college of business,” Tricia Zimmer Ferguson said. “As an entrepreneur who benefited from a world-class education at MU, I can’t think of a better way to say thank you to Trulaske while also providing students with new ways to enrich their college experience.”
Kaldi’s Coffee in Cornell Hall will be open 7 a.m.–3 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 7 a.m.–1 p.m. on Fridays. The shop will be closed on weekends, to coincide with the public hours of Cornell Hall.
The college of business, founded in 1914, is home to four nationally ranked academic units producing top graduates and impactful research. Alumni are contributing their expertise to the public and private sectors in every state in the U.S. and in a host of foreign countries.
