Stacy and Kelsey Marshall are coffee lovers. The Indianola couple don't drink just any coffee. They consume organically grown, Fair Trade Certified specialty coffee, and have been doing so for many years, along with trying to buy local produce and supporting sustainable agriculture.

For nearly three years now, they have been able to take their coffee love and their convictions one step further: They created a sustainable business catering to like-minded coffee lovers.

The name of the business, Grounds for Change, is symbolic: It embodies good coffee and positive change. The two have discussed the idea of owning a sustainable business for awhile. After traveling to Costa Rica in 2002 and meeting some of the coffee farmers, they learned how challenging it was to make the transition from conventionally grown to organic coffee. The seed for Grounds for Change had been planted.

“It was a perfect fit to couple our love for coffee with a sustainable business,” Stacy Marshall said.

Grounds For Changes owners Stacy and Kelsey Marshall

After brainstorming and writing several versions of a business plan, the Marshalls did what many nascent entrepreneurs do: They went to banks for financing. They got the same answers as many other would-be business owners: No.

With the help from their parents and some of their own money, however, they pulled it off. The first roaster was in a 100-square-foot cottage built especially for the business on their property. They lived on Bainbridge Island at the time. Stacy was the first one to learn how to roast, and immediately quit her job so she could devote all her time to the business. It would be another two years before Kelsey would do the same, in the meantime commuting to Seattle, then spending long evenings, often into the wee hours of morning, roasting coffee at the business.

Family members help out during busy times, and Marshall said it's exciting to have a “truly family-owned and operated business.”

Initially, they sold the roasted coffee online for about six months, but the intention was to go wholesale. They don't usually sell to chains but their coffee is featured from college campuses to stores and cafes. Locally, the grounds are sold retail at Town and Country store on Bainbridge and the Indianola Country store (as well as online at www.groundsforchange.com). The first Kitsap County café to brew up Grounds for Change, Hi-Lo's 15th Street Cafe on 15th and Wycoff in Bremerton, was due to open any time, and a second cafe was in the planning stages in Poulsbo.

The company views customers as one of its biggest assets. “We take our customer service very seriously,” Marshall said. “We are nothing without our customers.”

Grounds for Change moved to its current location, in a warehouse complex in Poulsbo, about a year and a half ago. But they are already bursting at the seams, Stacy said - and are adding a second roaster that will triple their roasting capacity. They are also, doubling their space. Stacy's brother, Mike Williams, is currently an apprentice roaster, and the couple plan to hire two more employees soon.

“We've been successful, but it's because we've worked really hard, and we have a great product and great customers,” Marshall said.

Grounds for Change buys the green coffee beans from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, Bolivia, Sumatra and Ethiopia. Bolivia is Stacy's favorite roast. Each origin then is roasted in a specific way to highlight its characteristics. Each has its specific time and temperature. Marshall says the craft of roasting coffee is similar to wine making. It takes trial and error, a certain skill and technique, and the palate to be able to appreciate the difference in tastes.

In addition, the company sells two flavored roasts - hazelnut and French vanilla - and several blends. A decaffeinated roast that uses a Swiss water process (instead of chemicals used in regular decaf) is also offered. For the blends, an average of two to four roasts are mixed, but not proportionally. “Blends can be really challenging. We have a lot of fun with it,” Marshall said.

Creating new blends is not the only fun part. The Marshalls are very pleased that their business not only uses sustainable methods, but also helps improve the coffee farmers' quality of life.

“We both believe that businesses should pay attention to what's referred to as 'the triple bottom line' - the social, environmental, and financial implications of doing business,” Marshall said. “It's like treating your neighbor the way you want to be treated. When you buy a product, we are the first line of defense to ensure it doesn't use child labor or sacrifice the environment and other people's living to be produced.”

For Grounds of Change, that means all coffee is organically and shade grown, and Fair Trade Certified. Other products, such as mugs and totes, are either made in the United States or are Fair Trade Certified if imported. It took the company more than a year, for example to find a coffee mug that can be imprinted and is made in the United States.

“One of the reasons our customers are loyal (is because) they trust us and know our intentions behind why we are doing business,” Marshall said.

In addition to the more simple things like using recycled paper and soon switching to a commercial printer that uses soy-based ink, Grounds for Change buys enough green tags supporting alternative energy to offset its entire CO2 emissions output from roasting, delivery trucks, travel, shipping etc. Being as sustainable as possible is what sets them apart in the specialty coffee industry, Marshall said.

Grounds for Change donates part of its sales to a variety of causes, from the “1% for the Planet” organization to relief efforts such as for Hurricane Katrina and the Asian tsunami. They are one of a number of select roasters participating in a project called Café Femenino, supporting women coffee growers in origin countries. Educating consumers about the importance and benefit of fair trade is another goal.

In return, the business has been welcomed by the local community. “We've been well received,” Marshall said. “We are really excited about being a part of Kitsap community, it's such a great joy for us to be out here.”

Even more joyful is maybe knowing that every time they smell the blissful, powerful aroma of freshly roasted beans pouring out of the roaster, they are helping make the world better--one coffee cup at a time.