BIGGBY COFFEE wins MBC Global's 3rd Quarter Multicultural Achievement Award

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MBC Global

Multicultural Business Coalition

December 6, 2007

— For Immediate Release —

BIGGBY COFFEE wins MBC Global’s 3rd Quarter Multicultural Achievement Award

ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich, USA (December 6, 2007). BIGGBY COFFEE of Lansing, Michigan, USA, has been recognized with MBC Global’s Multicultural Achievement Award for the third quarter of 2007. Formerly known as “Beaner’s Coffee”, a reference to the coffee bean, as the chain grew and became more well-known, the leadership of Beaner’s became aware that the name was considered an ethnic slur in some parts of the country.

CEO Bob Fish says, “We decided we had to change the name because our corporate core value is that all people need to feel welcome as customers, employees, and potential Franchisees.”

This is not the first time cultural awareness has been demonstrated by BIGGBY. The chain welcomes the entrepreneurial culture by offering a quiet environment and free Wi-Fi in most stores. Representatives of MBC Global have added that BIGGBY COFFEE has gone so far as to locate electricity conveniently throughout the stores for those with weak PC batteries for entrepreneurs using their PCs to conduct business meetings at the stores. These features combine to make the chain an ideal spot for small business owners desiring productive locations for meetings with customers and other entrepreneurs.

The name change impressed MBC Global since it was a totally voluntary move, made by the company as they became more culturally aware of their customers and trade areas. It will be completed by January 31, 2008.

The new name was selected in order to retain the company’s easily recognizable logo, with is a large “B”. However the change from Beaner’s to BIGGBY COFFEE will still require new interior and exterior signage that will cost the company approximately $1 million USD. The chain is absorbing most of the cost without passing it on to the Franchisees.

“The change has been well received” said Bob Fish, “I received a call from a Latino woman that had just moved to Lansing, [Michigan] and couldn’t understand why a coffee shop would have that name. She said resolving it through the name change was ‘beyond her expectations’.”

BIGGBY COFFEE operates 82 stores throughout the Deep South and Great Lakes regions of the United States. Current plans are to add as many as 62 stores in the near future. They can be found on the web at www.biggby.com.

MBC Global’s Multicultural Achievement Award is granted quarterly to an individual, organization, or company that has made a remarkable accomplishment in introducing or educating others to a specific culture or blend of cultures – known as building a cultural bridge. They may have developed a new way to unite employees, reach customers on a cultural basis, or introduced a culture to a new population.

Prior winners of MBC Global’s Multicultural Achievement Award include The Executive Network based in Brazil, Pizza Patron of Dallas, Texas, Canadian television producer Zarqa Nawaz, Pepsi, and William Zehnder. Each recipient has made a notable contribution recognizing at least two cultures important to cultural commerce or understanding.

MBC Global Post Office Box 070233 Rochester Hills, Michigan 48307

Phone: 248-802-6138 Email: info@mbcglobal.org Website: www.mbcglobal.org