Corner Court bustles with activity on a Monday morning. Bleary-eyed students try to jolt themselves awake with a cup o’ joe, but it’s not Starbucks coffee these students are in line for; it’s Rumba Roast, a fair trade organic coffee sold – for now – by Belmont University’s SIFE team and Conexion Americas.

Since February 2007, SIFE – Students in Free Enterprise – has worked hand in hand with Conexion Americas, an organization that benefits Nashville’s Hispanic population, to create and sell the coffee, and this month the Belmont group will hand the business over completely to Conexion Americas, which has been the goal since the beginning.
 
The business became a revenue source for Conexion. The organization, according to Jose Gonzalez, adviser and co-founder, “helps Latino families realize aspirations for economic and social opportunities.”

Because it’s a fair trade coffee, it also aids coffee bean farmers in Latin America. According to the Web site, www.RumbaRoast.com, farmers “are paid a sustainable price for their product that allows them to better support their businesses and families. Fair Trade also means farmers work under fair labor and environmentally sound conditions.”

From the outset, Belmont’s participation in the venture was temporary.

“We wanted to build the business and give it away,” said John Gonas, assistant professor of finance at Belmont and a leader of SIFE. Gonas said they have used the project to teach local Hispanics how to run a business. Now, he believes it’s time to “get their hands out of it” and let Conexion take over completely.

“We’ve had successes and failures [with Rumba Roast],” Gonzalez said. “I hope Conexion can take it and leverage it and continue to grow it…It will be a challenge to find the human capacity to continue to push the product in a way that doesn’t interfere with ongoing projects.”

But Daisy Johnson, the SIFE member who is project leader of Rumba Roast, is optimistic that Conexion Americas will be able to handle the transition with ease. According to her, members of Conexion are doing a good job learning to manage the business and the coffee blend has even been outselling Starbucks at Corner Court.

If nothing else, Gonzalez thinks the project has been a wonderful learning experience.“I hope students experienced real life challenges and opportunities,” he said. “It’s great how an experience like this teaches them about business and themselves.”