Columbus and Ohio are full of social enterprises.
Although these organizations operate as businesses, they also serve the needs of their communities through their profits and missions.
Learn more about what they offer and how they work to impact the broader community: donating to food pantries, creating economic development opportunities, recycling, providing job training, and more .
You’ll also learn how they started as a social enterprise and the principles that are important to their owners and creators.
Here are some social enterprises in central Ohio that you may not know about.
Featured are Blue Bow Tie Catering, The Compost Exchange, Dirty Girl Coffee, and Double Comfort Foods.
blue bow tie catering
owner: Shinto Guild Association
position: Due to renovations taking place at the Godman Guild location, the kitchen is located at St. Stephen Community House in Linden. Blue Bow Tie delivers food throughout central Ohio.
Open state: 2015
Website: bluebowtiecatering.com
Social enterprise aspects: It aims to create transitional employment for people with barriers to employment, with proceeds supporting Godman Guild Association programs.
about: Our catering business specializes in corporate catering and event catering, providing buffets, boxed lunches, salads, etc. This helps employees acquire marketable job skills and enables them to find gainful employment while paying a sustainable wage.
As the for-profit subsidiary of the nonprofit Godmen’s Guild Association, Blue Bow Tie supports the association’s programs and services aimed at improving the social and economic development of families and individuals in central Ohio. Godman Guild has been around for his 125 years, helping people through programs from kindergarten to career.
Fun fact: The company started in 2014 as a way to provide healthy vending and occasional catering to Godman Guild Association students and staff, and grew into a catering company the following year.
compost exchange
owner: ray liard
position: Drop-off locations throughout Columbus
Open state: Athens in 2012 and Columbus in 2015.
Website: thecompostexchange.com
Social enterprise aspects: The exchange’s mission is to collect, recycle and compost the 90,000 tons of food debris that Columbus residents sent to landfills last year, and educate Columbus residents about the benefits of composting.
about: Liard said the exchange’s services are designed to be not only easy, but also convenient, affordable and local.
There are eight locations where you can drop off your compost, and transportation is available in some areas of Columbus.
The goal is to develop a “composting community” where residents work together to accomplish that mission.
“Composting is perhaps the easiest way for Columbus-area residents to do their part for the environment, and it’s something we all share,” Liard said.
Liard said 99 percent of Columbus residents have already taken the first step in recycling, which is actually throwing away their food scraps. All they have to do, he said, is put it in a yellow bucket at The Compost Exchange instead.
Fun fact: The exchange serves thousands of residents and collects more than 1 million pounds of food waste each year.
dirty girl coffee
owner: Jane Cavallozzi and Carla Tripp
position: 82 High St., Gloucester, OH
Open state: 2015
Website: dirtygirlcoffee.com
Social enterprise aspects: Its mission is to improve the economic advancement of women in the Appalachian region of Ohio.
about: This craft coffee roasting business produces small batches of responsibly sourced, primarily women-produced coffee and wholesales it to markets and coffee shops. We also have a retail store in Gloucester, Ohio in Athens County and are sold online at dirtygirlcoffee.com.
Cavarozzi serves many community organizations and works on projects that create work hubs, training, and employment within the community.
Fun fact: The owners started a roasting business after seeing economic hardship in the Appalachian region of Ohio and wanting to make a difference.
double comfort foods
owner: Mary Riski
position: upper arlington
Open state: 2011
Website:doublecomfortfoods.com
Social enterprise aspects: We donate 100% of our profits to hunger relief charities and support different nonprofits each year
about: In 2011, Double Comfort opened a full-service Southern restaurant from scratch to generate revenue for the food pantry. The company then switched to retail food in 2017 and began bottling six sauces and a secret spice blend with the goal of “eradicating heat hunger.”
The company has donated more than 238,000 meals and sells sauces and dry rubs wholesale in stores, at farmers markets and online at doublecomfortfoods.com.
Although it doesn’t have a storefront, Columbus retailers that sell the product include Waylan’s, Hills Market, Lucky’s and Giant Eagle Market District.
Last year we supported the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, and this year the proceeds will be donated to the Star House food program.
“At Double Comfort, we believe no one should go hungry,” says Lyski. “So I started a business that allows people to enjoy delicious food while also feeding those in need.”
Fun fact: Double Comfort’s newest product, Fiery Chipotle Bourbon Sauce, won first place at the New York Hot Sauce Show last fall.
dking@dispatch.com
@DanaeKing