A Northwest Austin couple is using the crowd funding website Indiegogo to raise money and open a neighborhood coffee shop.
Justin and Jenny Forgey, who live in the Indian Oaks neighborhood near McNeil Drive, recently started a 50-day challenge on Indiegogo to raise $60,000. They hope to open the coffee shop, which will be called Stonebridge Coffee, this summer. The couple is still looking for a location near their home. They have already met with other area coffee shop owners to find local suppliers.
"We want to open somewhere where we can give customers a local vibe and experience," Justin Forgey said.
Crowd funding websites allow anyone to create a campaign and tell others why they are raising money and how the money will be used. In the first two days, the Forgeys raised $1,275 toward their goal.
The couple grew up in Central Austin, but after moving farther north to raise their children, they missed the local coffee shops they used to visit.
The Forgeys plan to allow local artists and high school students from Westwood and McNeil High Schools to showcase their artwork or music in the shop. Forgey said he hopes that people could hold Bible study and other small groups at the shop and that it would be a place where students could hang out and moms could bring their children.
"It's really important for people to know that it's for the community and by the community," Forgey said. "We went with crowd funding not because we couldn't find investors, we went with crowd funding because we wanted it to be something Indian Oaks and Milwood want. It's very important for us that we have the community buy in."
To learn more about the Stonebridge Coffee project or to donate, visit https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stonebridge-coffee or follow them on Facebook or Twitter at @stonebridgecoff.