Meet Tim Franklin | Pastor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tim Franklin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tim, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We had been considering how we, as a small church ministry, could be a bigger blessing in our community. As we prayed and sought direction we came up with the idea of opening a non-profit coffee shop that could be used to help meet needs in our community. We wanted to run a shop with a volunteer staff that would be able to provide quality drinks and service to our customers, and to have a goal of using the profits to help organizations in our area that are touching the lives of people in need, and to provide assistance in areas of special community needs.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My journey to this place in life has been through a variety of experiences. My work career was in the petro-chemical industry where I began as a operator and worked my way up to a position as an operations superintendent. I also began to get actively involved in the volunteer fire department in the community and rose to the position of fire chief. During this time I was active in the ministry of my church and began to experience a call to ministry. In order to pursue that opportunity I began to take classes to help prepare myself for a new future. At one point I was working a full time job, overseeing a core ministry of the church, and attending classes through our denominations university. At times I wondered if I was crazy, but I looking back, I think it helped teach me discipline and challenged my commitment to the future that was before me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am a small town guy and like to keep things as local as possible. When I take people out to eat I like to go to places here in town, I usually recommend a several family owned restaurants that make great food at good prices. For seafood I like Johnny’s Seafood Restaurant , for Tex-Mex I would take them to Silvia’s Mexican Grill, and for a good American breakfast I would take them to Rigo’s Cafe. They all serve good food and take great care of their customers. For visitors, you have to spend some time doing simple activities like cruising the Texas City dike and the levee road where you can watch the windsurfers in action. I would take them to some of the shops on Sixth Street and make sure they made a visit to the museum that has some surprising information about things that have gone on in our area.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
We have a group of dedicated volunteers who have committed themselves to learning the skills of serving as baristas in this shop. They unselfishly give of their time and their talents in order that they can assure our customers of receiving a quality product along with friendly and caring service. They have caught the vision that every person that comes through our door is not a customer, but a person who deserves our time and attention. They are an amazing group and I am very proud of each and every one of them.

Website: www.coffeeconnectiontc@me.com

Facebook: coffeeconnectiontc