Saxbys to Open Student-run Eatery
Richard D. L. Fulton
Photos Courtesy of MSMU
Saxbys (also known as Saxbys Coffee) is preparing to open a student-run and staffed eatery in partnership with Mount Saint Mary’s University (MSMU), a café which is expected to be operational with the commencement of the Fall 2022 semester.
The café, which will open in the University’s recently remodeled Knott Academic Center, is being established as a part of Saxbys “Experiential Learning Platform (E.L.P.),” through which, the company states, “… young people are proving that they have what it takes to mold the business movement of the future. We call these our entrepreneurial proving grounds”
Saxbys’ café will also provide students with the opportunity to earn an income and enable them to put into practice what they are learning in business-related classes via the management of the eatery.
The student-run, staffed eatery will be the first Saxbys’ E.L.P. café launched by the Philadelphia-based Certified B corporation and coffee company in a private institution in Maryland.
Mount St. Mary’s President Timothy Trainor said, “The Saxbys partnership will enable students to put what they learn in classrooms into practice, honing their business, entrepreneurial, and team-building skills,” adding, “This experiential learning opportunity will complement existing leadership development programs on campus and our robust internship program to help ensure that students are well set up for life after graduation.”
Saxbys also announced that Chloe Knill (MSMU’s Class of 2023; pictured right) has become the first student café executive officer CEO for the new student-managed and staffed café. Knill, of Fairfield, will be working alongside Saxbys’ executives and will manage the operations of the campus café.
According to MSMU, Knill, currently finishing her junior year, is majoring in business, with a concentration in management. “As soon as she heard about the Saxbys SCEO opportunity during a presentation in her supply chain and operations management class, she immediately decided to apply,” the Mount stated, adding, “After multiple interviews, including one with Saxbys CEO Nick Bayer and several executive board members of the company, she learned that she had been chosen for the position.”
Knill stated, in an article written by Katherine Stohlman, writer and editor, Office of University Marketing & Communications, “I have never seen anything like this on a college campus,” adding, “I did have some prior leadership experience as SGA president [at the community college from which she transferred] … but the chance to helm an on-campus eatery as a student is one that’s hard to match.”
As SCEO, Knill will work directly with the Saxbys’ board and receive mentorship from Christina Green, an assistant professor in the Richard J. Bolte, Sr. School of Business. According to the Mount, in her six-month tenure as SCEO, Knill will be trained in the Saxbys’ “three pillars of team development, community leadership, and financial management.”
Stohlman reported, “She’ll guide her staff of fellow students, not only in the day-to-day operations of the café, but also in creating a fun and relaxing environment for Mounties,” … and looks forward to ensuring that the café becomes “the place to be for the students.” Krill emphasized the value of Saxbys, not just to business students, but to the wider campus community, and “will help make the Academic Center a place for gathering and connecting—and not simply for classes.”
The Knott Academic Center is currently undergoing an expansion and renovation that will bring technologically advanced collaborative spaces and a Bloomberg Classroom Laboratory, as well as more classrooms and faculty offices, according to the Mount. In this prime location, “the café will be a busy cornerstone of campus life, providing the student leaders with a dynamic business that presents real-world challenges and opportunities.”
For more information on Saxbys’ Experiential Learning Platform, visit the company’s website at saxbyscoffee.com.
