From the pages of In Business magazine.
Marleni Valle is proud of her birth country — El Salvador — and she’s excited to bring a bit of its coffee, culture, and cuisine to her adopted country and new home in Madison. Finca Coffee opened to the public on July 29 on Madison’s South side at 2500 Rimrock Road on the Novation Campus.
Valle, along with her husband, Silas, have prior small business experience, including a Latin restaurant in Boston, before their family moved to Madison last year. Finca Coffee will mark the first time Valle has been a sole owner/operator, and she’s embracing the challenge.
“We moved here because Silas had roots in the state, having graduated from UW–Richland Center and UW–Platteville, and he had an opportunity to return here to work at UW–Madison,” Valle says. “But owning a business where I can share where I’m from and set an example for our daughters is a passion.”
Valle is collaborating with longtime family friend Todd Allbaugh, who will serve as general manager and has extensive coffee experience as the owner and operator of the former 5th Element Coffee Bar. Finca Coffee is an opportunity to expand where the former shop left off. Valle and Allbaugh have teamed with 4 Monkeys Coffee Roasters of El Salvador to provide the majority of Finca’s coffee, and JBC Coffee Roasters of Madison will contribute to the brew bar.
“When coming up with a name, we wanted to keep the focus on the coffee and what’s important to us,” Valle notes. “Finca, in Central America, is Spanish for farm. That’s where it all starts, with great producers who farm correctly — taking care of the environment and the people — and produce a great cup of coffee.”
Finca goes well beyond coffee, offering a Latin food menu beginning with pupusas, the national Salvadoran dish. Tacos and burritos also will be on the menu, along with salads for lunch. Breakfast will include made-from-scratch waffles, breakfast sandwiches, an oatmeal bar, and a made-fresh-daily Salvadoran quesadilla, which is nothing like the Mexican dish of the same name.
Valle and Allbaugh plan to work with local producers as much as possible in sourcing seasonal ingredients and other items that will be carried in-house, and they’re excited to be in an emerging part of the Madison area.
“It can be summed up in one word — opportunity,” explains Valle. “There’s opportunity to add to a growing part of the Madison area at this location, and without the interest and investment from The Alexander Co. in seeing Latina and women owned businesses grow, this wouldn’t be possible.”
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The Alexander Co. teamed with Valle on a pilot project to assist minority women-owned businesses on tenant improvement allowances in order to bring greater diversity and food culture to the area. Joseph Alexander, president of The Alexander Co., sees the project as more than an investment in brick and mortar. “We strive to create communities,” says Alexander. “That includes empowering and investing in entrepreneurs like Marleni and bringing culture and diversity to our growing Novation Campus.”
“Our goal was to catalyze the food-and-drink offerings at the Novation Campus and surrounding community, while also keeping culture and diversity in the conversation,” adds Kendra Bishop, director of marketing and public relations for The Alexander Co. “Marleni and Todd brought their vision and experience while we simply assisted with a tenant improvement allowance for their space. It was a truly collaborative process and we’re thrilled with the results.”
At present, Finca has three full-time and two part-time employees, though it’s already seeking more part-timers for the lunch shift.
Above all, Valle and Allbaugh hope to bring warmth and Salvadoran hospitality to Madison. “Where I’m from, people are always welcoming neighbors in for a cup of coffee, quesadilla, and a pupusa,” Valle says. “It’s that sense of community and family that I want to bring to Finca Coffee. If we accomplish that, it will be something for which we can be proud.”
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