The recently reopened TREP Café. (Photo courtesy of the Leeds School of Business)

In the information commons of the newly expanded Koelbel Building, entrepreneurial students are brewing competition for Starbucks. The student-owned and operated TREP Café reopened for business last fall in the Leeds School of Business' new home.

Created with a loan from the Leeds School and the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, the TREP Café began operations in fall 2005 as a coffee cart in the original business building. After closing for a year during the building's renovation and addition, TREP is now a full-service café with its own retail space in the information commons just outside of the business school library.

The café opens at 7 a.m. serving coffee, lattes, tea, pastries and assorted snacks to bleary-eyed students, faculty and staff in need of caffeine, and closes at 6 p.m. after students fortify themselves for all-nighters in the information commons with coffee and energy bars. "The great thing about this café is that it is run by students, and it benefits students," said Patty Graff, assistant director of the Deming Center, which sponsors the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization, or CEO, whose members founded and manage the TREP Café.

Senior accounting major Michael Isham handles TREP's accounting and is one of four student managers running the business for 2007-2008. Senior finance student Dan Brennan handles human resources, inventory is managed by Peter Gilbertz, a senior history major, and sophomore marketing major Susanna Nilsson is in charge of marketing. "I've learned so much about the day-to-day operations of a business," Isham said. "One lesson I've taken to heart is if it's possible that something can go wrong, at some point it probably will. Always being prepared to handle these mishaps is a valuable lesson to learn."

The café is so successful it has reached its goal of funding an entrepreneurship scholarship with its earnings. The first $1,000 TREP scholarship will be awarded this spring. TREP also was recently mentioned in BusinessWeek Online in an article entitled, Learning from Student Businesses.

Naomi Soderstrom, associate professor of accounting and member of TREP's board of advisors said, "The students are a pleasure to work with. They think carefully about suggestions we make and do an excellent job implementing changes. We're thrilled with the success they've had."

The board of advisors also includes Brian Morrow, MBA '05, director of finance at Rock Bottom Brewery, Toby Hemmerling, MBA '99, co-founder and CEO of the Organic Dish, Frank Moyes, entrepreneurship scholar in residence, and Patty Graff.