Serving – and Caffeinating – a Community
Updated: Jul 27
If you are in Frankfort, Ohio and would like to meet a friend for coffee, there is only one place in town: Deeply Rooted Café.
When Kennedy Moss opened in 2021, she fulfilled her family’s dream. “My grandpa had the vision of a coffee shop and talked about it for years, but never took the step,” said Moss, for whom coffee evokes fond memories. “When I was a little girl, my grandpa used to always give coffee to me on a spoon…that’s why I love it.”
Deeply Rooted Café sits on the main street of the small town of Frankfort. The town has no meeting spaces, other than bars, which aren’t open to everyone. People who hoped to meet during their workday, students hanging out after school, and others were left without options.
Moss felt strongly that opening the café would be doing a service for her community. “I didn’t think I could do it, but this town really needed it,” she said.
She got a small business loan through ECDI to furnish and equip her shop.
“I owe a lot to ECDI,” Moss said. “I had no idea there was an organization that caters to small businesses.”
For Moss, the café isn’t only a business, it’s a higher calling. “I love people. This is a place for them to come together. I just walk into my coffee shop in the mornings and it’s like ‘ahh, I’m home.’ I get to serve these folks I grew up with. I love that part of being an entrepreneur,” she explained.
The name even has a special meaning. “It’s Deeply Rooted Café: I’m from this community, I’m rooted in this community, I’m grounded in this community,” said the Frankfort native.
