CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Veteran Roasters, which prioritizes hiring military veterans, wants to build a combination microbrewery, coffee roaster, restaurant and cafe in the Pullman and Roseland area of Chicago.
“This will be the continuance of our existing business of Veteran Roasters, which is a company we founded to hire homeless and at-risk veterans,” Veteran Roasters Mark Doyle said. “This neighborhood is a chance for us to be a part of rebuilding a neighborhood and a community.”
Doyle said the goal is to get City Council approval in time to break ground on the 1,600-square-foot project in the Spring and open by early 2024.
“When we are full go, we hope to have 50 – 60 veterans working there,” Doyle said. “This restores two things: money in their pocket, a civilian life that they deserve just like the rest of us, and that sense of purpose working again among other veterans."
For some veterans, a job can change — and possibly save — their life, Doyle said.
“Just saying the words 'you are hired' to somebody who has lost everything, who's living in the shelter, are the most transformative words,” he said.
Doyle hopes the new development will also help with the ongoing transformation of the historic Pullman neighborhood.
“This neighborhood is a chance for us to be a part of rebuilding a neighborhood and a community,” he said.
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