For local entrepreneur and North Philadelphia native Joe Cesa, 2009 has been a year of transitions. Although his business has changed dramatically, his entrepreneurial spirit is just as alive as ever. “I couldn’t go back [to being an employee somewhere],” Cesa explained, “I’ve spent too many years working at things I believe in.”

Cesa’s values have been clear since the beginning. “I wanted to do something with fair trade and local farming. These were things that I believed in and I felt that they were right,” he said.

Since getting into the coffee business, Cesa has been a vocal advocate for fairly traded, organic coffee. He said that friends were initially skeptical of his business idea, thinking that the whole plan sounded idealistic. “I didn’t talk to one person who thought it was a good idea. It can sound like preaching. It’s not like everyone’s going to be in tie dye shirts or something.” He continued to explain that buying Fair Trade isn’t something radical, rather, just a decent thing to do.

Cesa has visited coffee farmers in Nicaragua, and will tell any coffee enthusiasts details about his trip: cold showers, rough roads, mud up to one’s knees, and very gracious hosts. “I’m not trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize or anything.” He said, “By being open, more people learn and more people care.”

For seven years, Cesa operated Joe Coffee, an independent coffee shop at the corner of 11thand Walnut Streets. A variety of factors played into the shop’s demise. Joe Coffee opened the day after 9/11, and saw firsthand the effects of the slowing economy.

First, Joe Coffee’s customer base reduced dramatically. The theatre on their block began producing fewer shows, their neighbor, Jefferson University Hospital, implemented a hiring freeze, and many of the nearby retail stores went out of business.

Second, competition was sprouting up everywhere. When Cesa opened up shop there was one Starbucks within a five-block radius; today there are thirteen.

Less business combined with some unfortunate financial burdens toward the end of 2008. Cesa recalls, “By February, it was clear that I had to start thinking about closing.”

Since Joe Coffee closed its doors on May 27, Cesa has been found new opportunities to use his coffee roasting equipment through friends and partners he gained along the way. While selling his coffee at the Headhouse Square Market, Cesa met the owners of local restaurant, market, and café, Pumpkin.

After a brief conversation about his future plans, they formed the idea to have Cesa roast coffee in the basement room of their Pumpkin Market space on South Street, and to supply the market, café, and restaurant.

The new space is cozy, and filled with the smoky smell of roasting coffee. Cesa currently sells his coffee in the store upstairs, and supplies Red Hook Coffee & Tea, InFusion, and the Sexy Green Truck, in addition to Pumpkin.

Both of Cesa’s parents were self-employed, and he clearly inherited the entrepreneurial spirit. He said that being self employed “Keeps your mind going. There are always projects in the works.”

In this transitional year, Cesa has benefited greatly from friends and partnerships. “I count on people to help me. There’s strength in that,” he says. He has discussed new business venture ideas with old friends, and shares his farmer market space with a new friend in a baking start-up. Some loyal customers continue to order his coffee on-line and venture to the new store.

Cesa recounts, “The best thing you can do is to try to work positively with other people. One of the best things I saw in Nicaragua—with some of the poorest people—was the idea of being cooperative. That we’re all in this together.”