Out of the partnership came a new business, The Sweet Spot Creamery, which opened in April in the second building behind the coffee shop, between Grace and Grain Collective and Anna’s Final Touch nail salon.

When the space became vacant last fall, Coffee on 3rd owner Ashlyn Dugan reached out to her friend, Deb Faith of the Hollidaysburg Area School District, to see about running a student mentorship program and reopening the building as a store selling Penn State Berkey Creamery products.

With support from Superintendent Curtis Whitesel, Faith said she jumped at the opportunity and organized a mentorship group with seven AP students through the fall and winter before the store’s soft opening in April.

An official opening occurred a couple weeks ago during a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the chamber, Faith said, noting she serves as the creamery’s store manager, but the students in her mentorship group have essentially built the business from square one.

The Sweet Spot Creamery is located at 1524 Third Ave., Duncansville, behind Coffee on 3rd. The business is run by Hollidaysburg Area High School students in partnership with the coffee shop. Mirror photo by Matt Churella

They created the name, designed a logo, painted the inside of the building, bought the decorations — including a neon sign that reads “Life is better with ice cream” — and learned how to order and price all of the products themselves, Faith said.

The original students include recent graduate Karsten Lolas and returning students Taylor Muth, Olivia Panaro, Jillian Buffone, Jacob Sidney, Henry Dolphin and Shayne Andrews, Faith said, noting incoming sophomore Justin Delattre was recently hired to work at the store.

Lolas said he and his peers were each interviewed by Dugan and Faith prior to being hired. Lolas, the only employee district officials graduated during Friday night’s ceremony at Tiger Stadium, said he plans to study finance for two years at Penn State Altoona before moving on to University Park.

“I got involved because I saw it as an opportunity to learn more about businesses,” Lolas said.

Stotler said the partnership between the coffee shop and the school district is closely aligned with the chamber’s BASICS program, which stands for Businesses And Schools Investing In Cooperative Solutions.

Through the program, the chamber aims to connect students with the business community for career exploration purposes, she said.

“I think this partnership in particular is a perfect example of how schools and local businesses can work together to create opportunities for students,” Stotler said. “You wish you could have more partnerships like that.”

The cherry on top of linking education and real-world experience is building the next generation of the workforce, Stotler said, noting a lot of the chamber’s mission is focused on that initiative.

Small businesses, like Coffee on 3rd and The Sweet Spot Creamery, are vital to the region because they build welcoming communities, Stotler added.

“I think that’s one of the things that makes our area special,” she said. “It’s only a win-win with these types of partnerships. It’s a win for students to get that real world experience, it’s a win for the business community and it’s a win for the community overall.”

The creamery itself is small, about 20 feet long and 15 feet wide, according to Faith. It features an outdoor seating area for people to enjoy a variety of tasty ice cream flavors.

“We’ve got the basics from Penn State creamery, like your cookies and cream, your chocolates (and) vanilla. Then we’ve also got a couple nut-based flavors like butter pecan,” Lolas said.

They also serve exclusive flavors that people can only get at the Penn State Berkey Creamery, such as “Grilled Stickies” and “Peachy Paterno,” Lolas said.

The students wanted to offer those exclusives to give people around the area a chance to try new flavors without having to travel too far, he said.

The store has done well since opening, Faith said, adding some of the regular customers are clients of the nearby nail salon.

“We’ve been doing really great business,” she said. “We’ve been very busy.”

The store’s summer hours, beginning Monday, June 1, are from 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday through Friday and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Lolas said he and his colleagues have become close friends in and out of school from working together.

“We’ve gotten to know each other pretty well,” he said.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.