In 2010, Alexe Van Beuren founded The B.T.C. Old-Fashioned Grocery in an historic brick building she renovated with her husband on Main Street in Water Valley. The B.T.C has spent 14 years building community and place through their award-winning market and lunch counter, as seen in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Southern Living.
For 14 years Alexe has imported her favorite coffee to sell at the B.T.C. from family friends in Virginia, but always dreamed of being able to roast her own rich, dark, and sustainable coffee in house, just like all the other delicious foods that are made from scratch in the B.T.C. kitchen. In 2023, USDA helped make this dream come true! A Rural Business Development Grant helped purchase a new coffee roaster for the B.T.C., and a Rural Energy for America Program grant helped install solar panels on the roof of the B.T.C. to help offset energy costs.
Alexe and her husband found out about the RBDG grant through a collaboration with the Lake District Partnership RPN Community Liaison, Gwen Woodson. Through the Rural Partners Network collaborating directly with communities to help them identify federal resources and removing barriers to those resources to build brighter futures, no matter their backgrounds or current circumstances, and then applying best practices to the benefit of all rural communities. And it all starts with listening to each community’s voice to understand their needs and respond to unique and challenging scenarios.
Alexe completed her roasting apprenticeship at Central Coffee Roasting, and her equipment training with Diedrich in Chicago. You can visit Alexe at the B.T.C. on Main Street in Water Valley to watch her roasting coffee beans while you enjoy a delicious meal at the B.T.C. Cafe, or order her freshly roasted, full-bodied, ethically-sourced, sustainably-packaged, certified fair-trade organic coffee beans online at btcgrocery.com.
Through Rural Partners Network, this Administration is making it easier for rural communities to reach federal staff who are living and working alongside the people they’re serving, providing more flexibility and capacity to respond to each community’s needs.
For more information about Rural Partners Network, visit Rural.gov.