Business / Kent

Grant helps Bent Tree Coffee install high-end crane

- Staff Report ,

Bent Tree Coffee Roasters in Kent recently installed a new overhead crane system at its roastery with help from a $25,000 grant from JobsOhio and Team NEO. The project cost $30,000 in total.

The crane is designed to safely lift 150-pound bags of green coffee, and will greatly reduce the risk of workplace injury. It will also pave the way for the company to expand production in the future.

“This project is about keeping our team safe while building a foundation for the future,” said Ryan Brannon, Managing Partner of Bent Tree Coffee Roasters. “We’re grateful for the support from JobsOhio and Team NEO in helping small businesses like ours continue to grow right here in Kent.”

The company was founded in 2011 as a small cafe downtown. It has since grown to a regional wholesale operation, supplying grocery stores and restaurants around Northeast Ohio.

Staff Report

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Downtown Kent to turn into student art gallery in March

- by Adriana Gasiewski. - by While attending the 2025 Heritage Ohio Annual Conference, Lesley Sickle, marketing coordinator of Main Street Kent, learned how in Delaware, Ohio, they displayed students’ artwork at local businesses for an entire month and started thinking about how Kent could pull off something similar.