Impact Finance capital investment helps Houston White brew holiday blends

The Get Down Coffee Company's new Brown Sugar Banana and Sweet Potato C.R.E.A.M. K-Cups are hitting national retail shelves

With help from U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance, Minneapolis entrepreneur Houston White Jr.’s The Get Down Coffee Company is launching a new product line that is planned to be available from coast to coast.

White’s coffee company includes a retail coffee bar in North Minneapolis and a roasting facility that opened in 2022. As he heads into Thanksgiving, White is launching for the first time new seasonal flavors of K-Cups that will be available at his café, plus national retail shelves and online distribution points.

“The two flavors were inspired by my grandmother – Sweet Potato C.R.E.A.M. and Brown Sugar Banana,” said White, who is also the founder of the Houston White fashion line and FRESH skincare.

“They are based on desserts she used to make,” he said, joking that he didn’t want to offer consumers another pumpkin spice option.

He used a $1 million equity-equivalent investment (EQ2) from U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance as flexible capital to advance the research and development of his first-ever line of K-Cups.

“EQ2 allows us to be creative,” he said. “Our focus in 2025 is to position certain products we see that are a fast turn and multi-use. The goal is to go deep in the development of products to position at various retailers. If we didn’t have the EQ2 capital, we would be having to dip into our immediate income. The EQ2 closed just a few months ago and we already have product that we’re putting on the shelves.”

According to Laura Skiles, Impact Finance director of impact for community finance solutions, EQ2 financing provides affordability of capital that many small businesses are not otherwise able to access due to their small asset size and emerging nature.

“With our finance solutions, we strive to be creative and innovative around how to get affordable capital to small businesses like Houston White Enterprises,” Skiles said. “The financing fills the gap between philanthropic grant capital and more traditional market capital, providing an option that supports a growing business and helps it reach new levels.”

In addition to White’s fashion and retail undertakings, he is behind Camdentown Flats, LLC, a real estate development that includes nine family units and 215 square feet of commercial space in North Minneapolis. Through various financing structures, Impact Finance contributed about $4 million of capital toward the construction of the project.

“That financing was an innovation in and of itself,” White said. “The Flats was a small project but a massive unlock that can be scaled and modeled elsewhere.”

White got more than coffee flavor inspiration from his grandmother.

“My Grandma used to say that where your heart is, there your treasure is,” he said. “Big institutions should think about this, too. U.S. Bank has shown that its heart is in this community.”

North Minneapolis, which is close to U.S. Bank headquarters, is part of the company’s place-based investing, a long-term focus that has included community collaboration with strategic partners to help build wealth in low-to-moderate income communities and communities of color. This work complements the bank’s ongoing Access Commitment® initiative.

“Houston has been a transformative figure in North Minneapolis, where we’re working with several community partners and focusing resources in an effort to support those like him who are transformative in the region,” said Kate McAnnar, U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance community finance solutions relationship manager.

White said his relationship with U.S. Bank dates back for years.

“U.S. Bank made one of the first investments in my business ventures and has stayed true to its commitments,” he said. “The bank has given me a massive platform to do a lot of meaningful work. It’s dreamy.”