Authored By Chloé Morrison
Mad Priest Coffee Roasters is expanding into the cocktail business and amplifying its mission to help people who have limited access to opportunities. He started Mad Priest with the mission to help refugees and now the business is expanding both in products and in who it aims to support. “We still have a huge heart and vision for seeing displaced people having an opportunity,” Mad Priest owner Michael Rice said. “We have people in our own backyard who have been displaced.” As he prepares to branch into alcoholic beverages with a coffee and cocktail bar on Cherry Street, he’s working intentionally to hire people of color and women and to pay the staff above industry standards for hourly wages. “You can treat people with respect and integrity, and have a diverse workplace and build something really special that makes people feel safe and proud,” Rice also said. Rice is working with local nonprofits and the city to connect with possible employees, and anyone interested in work can email info@madpriestcha.com. He’s partnering with Matt Sears of Haskel Sears Design on the new venture, called Mad Priest Coffee and Cocktails, which will be in the tradition of early coffee houses of the Ottoman Empire. And it will be a place where anyone can feel comfortable, he said. Matt Sears and the Haskel Sears design team, who also built Flying Squirrel and Chattanooga Whiskey, are creating the Cherry Street venue’s look. The coffee and cocktail bar is slated to open this fall.
