The coffee shop will include a stage for performers and will open this spring on County Road E.

By Elena Vaughn

A new Dunn Brothers Coffee slated to open this spring will hire Bethel and Northwestern students.

The shop will share a building with the American Red Cross at 1160 County Rd. E. in Arden Hills. The owners? Two Bethel alumni.

Greta and Adam Dvorak graduated in 2012 and 2013, both with degrees in biblical and theological studies. They began dating after graduating, then got married December 2016.

Adam Dvorak is in his second year of working as the Bodine residence director, while Greta Dvorak is a barista.

Greta was inspired to open the shop during college, but her love of coffee began in middle school. She first told her father of her idea to open a shop.

“Coffee is a family/cultural value,” Greta Dvorak said. “If I’m drinking a cup of coffee with you, it means that I want to be with you, I want to sit with you (and) be present in our conversation.”

Greta will run the main operations while Adam will oversee finances. Greta’s mother will help make and serve coffee while her father will lend other support.

Greta envisions the shop as a center of community and growth, both among college students working and studying there and within the larger Arden Hills community.

The space itself will feature a fireplace with seating, conference rooms, a children’s area and a long community table. There will also be a stage where local artists of various kinds are invited to perform and share their creations.

The menu of the new shop will include pastries, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, soup and an appetizer menu. The beverage menu will feature many types of coffee, smoothies, iced tea and lemonade.

Greta Dvorak’s passion for college student growth came from a positive experience her senior year at Bethel, where she was a resident assistant in Getsch alongside Adam.

Their focus on hiring mainly college students stems from their desire to foster community outside of the store itself. They are open to hiring students of all majors.

Adam Dvorak recalls days of building community when he was an RA in college.

“Living life with those men was so impactful for me,” Adam said. “Those nights where life just happens, it’s just people sitting together, getting to know each other.”

His advice for building community is consistent investment day-in and day-out, even in the “insignificant” moments.

Application announcements are forthcoming.