Urban Bean officially launched (Friday 19th February)

26/02/2010 10:52:52 AM, by Kate Allen
Urban Seed's new social enterprise, Urban Bean, was officially launched last Friday 19 February. It was an extremely hot evening and the 60 people who attended were ordering iced coffees instead of their normal lattes as the air conditioner stuggled to cope. Project co-ordintator Brent Lyons Lee thanked supporters, particularly the Geelong Community Foundation's Andrew Lawson, for backing the vision when it seemed an unlikely project. The other main supporters were the R E Ross Trust and the Norlane Community Centre. Brent also thanked the people on the ground making it work, particularly cafe manager Tony Venz and his wife Sarah. Bruce Everett, Chair of the Urban Seed Board, then officialy launched the project and talked about Urban Seed's priorty and committment to building social capital in Norlane. Having only been open for a couple months, we have aready seen a significant impact on the community, with many locals volunteering and getting inspired to become the next batch of award winning barristas!