Interview with entrepreneur Chris Treter: Opening Doors and Connecting
It’s 1:27 p.m. and Chris Treter is on the other end of the cell phone connection, trying to talk above the noise of an airport terminal. He’s been disconnected three times already, and static is making the conversation a bit like a game of “Name That Tune.” Most interviewees might get annoyed or discouraged enough to call it quits, but Treter laughs and keeps telling his story.
It’s a little thing, but it matters.
The story he’s telling now, while waiting in Detroit Metro Airport for a flight that will take him one step closer to Palestine, is of his organization, On the Ground. It’s the non-profit arm of the Traverse City-based business he founded, Higher Grounds Trading.
“Everyone is participating in our global economy. Every time we buy something, someone has grown or made it, and many, many times, that person doesn’t have a sustainable livelihood,” he says as a segue into how he started Higher Grounds, a fair-trade, organic coffee bar and roastery located in Grand Traverse Commons. His coffee is also sold online and in stores like the Harbor Springs IGA, Toski Sands, and the Grain Train.
Original Source / Full Article: http://www.harborlightnews.com/atf.php?sid=13432¤t_edition=2011-10-26