Like the proverbial pebble in the pond, the owners and baristas at Daily Rise Coffee have tossed a coffee bean of kindness into the community and broadcast waves of positive energy. And that’s not an interpretation of what Daily Rise projects. The company’s homegrown motto is “Promoting positive energy since 2004.”
Beth and Jeff Furton chose Utah to put down roots and open a be-their-own bosses business. From their first location on Ogden’s Washington Avenue, they expanded in 2008 to a Layton address, and in 2012, the couple established the Daily Rise Roasting Company where they roast organic and sustainably-grown beans from coffee farms around the world.
Antelope Drive is home to Get Some Guns and Ammo, Target Super Center and a myriad chain restaurants. It’s one of those streets which once lead to farms and green pastures but today it’s a wide, suburban commuter street, mostly devoid of pedestrians.
Amid the suburban chaos, Daily Rise Coffee opened in a former Circle K convenience store. The Furton’s have converted the building into a log cabin-style drive-thru with a patio, and in an adjacent building they have a bustling roasting operation. Inside both the drive-thru and the roastery, happy, excited employees are busy at work. And the excitement isn’t merely an effect from the caffeinated aroma of their roasting operation.
Providing customers a positive experience is the cornerstone of Daily Rise customer service. “We hire based on personality,” Beth shares. “We want people to leave with a smile on their face.” “When you surround yourself with good people,” Jeff adds, “good things will happen.” And, like the ripples broadcast by a tossed intention, the Furton’s feel-good attitude has radiated into the community and back again.
Jeff says they have “never really shared this story,” and, out of respect for this humbly benevolent group’s desire for anonymity, both givers and receivers shall remain nameless.
The outstanding coffee is what first attracted a now long-time customer. She has gotten to know the “super personable” Daily Rise baristas through what Jeff calls the drive-thru’s “open window” approach. On one particularly tough-being-a-mom Saturday morning, she stopped for coffee and a chat, after which her daughter commented, “I’m glad we went there, Mom. You’re in a better mood now.”
More recently, at a time when this customer needed a renter for a condo property, she heard through the grapevine that a Daily Rise barista and her son needed a place to live. Sensing an opportunity, this community connector reached out to people at her other “happy place,” the Syracuse Letrono Crossfit, asking friends if they’d be interested in providing essentials for someone who was establishing her first solo living space. “Before I knew it, my garage was full of stuff,” she says.
On a night when her new renter was gone, people from Daily Rise and Letrono transported and placed appliances, beds, tables, lamps, a TV, kitchen and bath items in the condo. They stocked the refrigerator and cupboards with food. From a photo, a local artist created a painting of the occupants, which they hung over the fireplace mantle. When the group left, the condo was filled not only with material things, but also with community-generated positive energy.
“This wasn’t a one-sided thing,” says the group’s organizer. “She touched our lives as well.”
