In the heart of downtown Grand Haven and Muskegon lies an inspirational café that is focused on relationships with their team members, community, and the planet. Andrew Boyd and Jeremy Miller, the owners of Aldea Coffee, alongside Brittany Goode, the Director of Operations, shared that they started Aldea Coffee in “2009 as a non-profit community development organization, Aldea Development, to support farmers in La Unión, Honduras. As the nonprofit grew, we began importing green coffee into Michigan, effectively helping farmers earn above Fair Trade prices for their crop. To sustain our work in Honduras, we opened two coffee shops in West Michigan under the name Aldea Coffee. By 2017, we expanded our operations to include coffee roasting in Muskegon, allowing us to oversee the entire process from farm to cafe. In 2020, we completed our B Corp Certification and recertified in 2023, formalizing our commitment to a people-and-planet-before-profit business approach. In 2024, we took bigger steps toward reducing our impact on the earth by installing solar panels on our roastery and restoring the front yard space into a regenerative, native prairie with the help of the Muskegon Conservation District. In addition to our cafes and non-profit, we now offer a comprehensive B2B coffee program, an online shop, catering services, and serve off-site events. We deliver freshly roasted coffee weekly to cafes, offices, restaurants, and grocery stores, including Bridge Street Market in Grand Rapids.” This year, Boyd, Miller, and Goode took some time to respond to our interview questions as we celebrate the impact that Aldea Coffee has had on their workforce.
Aldea Coffee has won the Good For Workforce award because they push the boundaries on what it means to offer good jobs and be a sustainable employer. Boyd, Miller, and Goode shared
“One of our greatest strengths is employee retention. Most of our leadership team, and many of our baristas, have been with Aldea Coffee for 6 to 10 years. We offer a higher-than-industry compensation package, with baristas earning a base wage of $10 per hour plus tips, which averages $18–$25 per hour. After one year of employment, all team members participate in a 1% revenue share, reflecting our commitment to shared success. We also offer 10 days of PTO for full-time employees once they have completed their first year, as well as paid volunteer time and a yearly wellness stipend. We’re also proud of the diversity within our staff and the welcoming culture it fosters. Our leadership team is intentional about creating a workplace where everyone feels cared for, listened to, and valued. Our cafe management team shows appreciation through team celebrations, snack deliveries, and a culture of openness. Recognition also occurs from employee to employee through our WOW Program, initiated by the cafe managers. Aldea is committed to growing from within and has promoted four team members in 2025 to key positions, including Assistant Café Managers, a Coffee Quality & Product Specialist, and an Assistant Coffee Roaster. This internal growth creates a well-rounded organization, with employees who are cross-trained in multiple facets of our operation.”
Supporting your team members extends beyond giving a livable wage. Aldea Coffee has created opportunities for their team members to expand on their skillsets by supporting trips to their partners farms in Honduras as well as creating a culture of promoting from within.
Aldea Coffee was awarded the Good For Workforce award because they ensure that their hiring practices and working relationships align with their commitment to the people and planet. Boyd, Miller, and Goode celebrated their award: “to win this award is validating. The cafe industry is not one people typically invest their careers in, which is a norm Aldea actively works to contradict by employing two key employees for over ten years, and our two cafe managers for over six years. The central goal of our business is to foster a caring, supportive community for our customers and staff alike. When the care that leadership puts into Aldea is reciprocated by our employees, it gives us the confidence that we are doing something right.” Investing in your business by hiring the right people and creating a space that honors them leads to higher retention rates of team members.
As business owners, it’s our responsibility to ensure that we honor and respect the community members that work for us or interact with us on a regular basis. At Aldea Coffee they “believe in the importance of community engagement. Aldea Coffee actively advocates for positive change by partnering and working directly with local municipalities. Members of our leadership team serve on both city and county commissions, helping to improve and create policies that align with our community and sustainability goals. Through Aldea Coffee and the work within the communities, we plan multiple beach cleanups every year, sit on Earth Day commissions and so much more.” Community engagement extends beyond events. It includes working or partnering with other business members and the community. It means improving the city/state we work in by getting involved in policy conversations and supporting the initiatives that prioritize people and planet.
By putting people and planet at the forefront of your business leads to investing in care through the Care Economy. The Care Economy is centered on relationships and wellbeing, advancing racial and economic justice for marginalized communities.
Boyd, Miller, and Goode reminded us that their
“Work starts at the base of the coffee supply chain and has direct roots in the communities in which we operate, extending outward to regional and state-level efforts. The greatest benefit of this process is the self-empowerment of marginalized communities. The word “Aldea” is Spanish for a small village or community. The magnitude of that word is at the heart of who we are, as the prioritization of social responsibility is the most crucial part of our process.
We began as a community development organization in 2009 called Unión MicroFinanza, later rebranded as Aldea Development. The original vision of this organization was to steadily support smallholder farmers in Honduras. For the town of La Unión, that first meant taking on microloan clients. We saw how small investments, like new truck tires or a hand-operated grain mill, gave farmers the steady base reinforcement necessary to grow their operations. With a 98% repayment rate, this program is proof that economic justice starts with the basics.
Microloans are a useful tool, but on their own cannot minimize systemic inequities at a community level. It immediately became clear that coffee was La Unión’s primary cash crop, and providing a consistent outlet to sell it would be the key to community development.
Aldea’s true success is not fiscal, but in the way we have been able to support and connect with people throughout the coffee supply chain. Today, we take pride in paying our farmers well above fair-trade prices, in addition to fairly compensating our cafe employees. By centering our personal relationships with each coffee farmer, roaster, and employee along the way, a culture of empathy and service is born.
Now, 15 years after Aldea Development began, our farmers continue to have a consistent outlet to sell their high-quality product while developing their business and financial literacy, which further enables Aldea to create welcoming community spaces in West Michigan.
We believe that coffee is a genuine connection point for people. Aldea helps cultivate empathy and understanding by treating everyone equally. No matter who you are or where you come from, you are welcome at Aldea. These foundations advance equity and justice in all of the communities in which we work.”
As Aldea Coffee continues to advance their mission of providing a workspace and working relationships that prioritize people and access to education, they are looking forward to enhancing those initiatives in 2026.
Boyd, Miller, and Goode shared
“In 2025, we offered the option to contribute to a Simple IRA to improve the financial security of our staff and to further solidify Aldea Coffee as a great place to hold a career. All staff who were in their third year of employment were able to enroll.
For 2026, we will be focusing on education and leadership development with those who have been promoted, as well as our baristas. This includes the possibility of joining our frequent trips to origin‒Honduras, Tanzania, or Colombia‒as well as career development opportunities such as in-depth specialty coffee education and certifications, and attendance at industry events. This deepens everyone’s understanding of Aldea and the specialty coffee industry, improves employee retention, and empowers our employees to turn their jobs into careers and take pride in the work they do.
This year, we began the visioning process to outline Aldea’s next ten years. We brought baristas and leadership to the table together, and many improvements to our workforce and benefits came up in employees’ visions. The visioning process will take a year to complete, and we’re excited to see what we can create from the many ideas presented.”
