Tennessee Tech celebrates grand opening of Poet’s Coffee inside Volpe Library
Poet’s Coffee staff and university leaders celebrate the grand opening of the coffee
shop’s location inside the Volpe Library on Tennessee Tech’s campus. From left: Ethan
McWilliams, manager of Poet’s Coffee’s Volpe Library location, Kyle Martin, general
manager of Poet’s Coffee, Phil Oldham, President of Tennessee Tech, Jeremy and Lauren
Crabtree, owners of Poet’s Coffee, Daniel Leatherman, director of operations for Tennessee
Tech Campus Dining, and Dirk Anderson, resident district manager for Chartwells Higher
Education Dining Services.
One of Cookeville’s longest-standing local eateries now has a home at Tennessee Tech
University.
Campus leaders recently celebrated the ribbon cutting for Poet’s Coffee inside the
university’s Volpe Library.
The new outpost of the venerable local coffeehouse, which has two existing locations
on Cookeville’s courthouse square and along South Jefferson Avenue, marks the first
permanent partnership between the university’s Dining Services and an area business.
“We talk a lot about Cookeville being a wonderful place for a university to exist,
and the relationships we have between campus and the community are just fantastic
– this is another example of that,” said Tech President Phil Oldham in remarks at
the ribbon cutting ceremony. “I can’t think of a better brand to partner with.”
Oldham also highlighted the coffee shop’s prime location, just inside the main entrance
of the library, which he called a “true cultural center on campus.”
Since 2014, Poet’s Coffee has been owned by Tech alumnus Jeremy Crabtree, who recently
joined the university’s “College Town Talk” podcast to reflect on the coffee shop’s decades
in Cookeville and the significance of expanding the business to the campus of his
alma mater.
“Tech for me was just the perfect university that I could have gone to at the time,”
said Crabtree. “I didn't know what I was going to do, but it was a perfect fit for
a community, and it allowed me to kind of explore a few things to figure out what
I was going to do in life. So, for me, it was a great college experience.”
Crabtree explained that, over the years, he has heard from Cookeville locals and Tech
alums who write to share about the memories they’ve made at Poet’s.
Tech President Phil Oldham speaks at the ribbon cutting for Poet's Coffee's location
inside the Volpe Library.
“Pretty regularly, I’ll get emails saying, ‘I had my first date there’ or ‘There’s
where I got my first job interview,’” he added. “We’ve even had a wedding in the back
room at Poet’s because a couple had met there and wanted to do their ceremony there
… People just know it and have loved it and grown up with it and seen it change over
the years.”
Crabtree called the grand opening of Poet’s Cookeville location, a “full circle” and
“a beautiful connection of the community of Cookeville and Tech merging and coming
together.”
The coffee shop’s modern space inside the library was planned and decorated by local
design firm Tatum Hill Interiors. Poet’s plans to incorporate design elements from
the new location into upcoming renovations of its other two sites.
Dirk Anderson, resident district manager for Chartwells, Tech’s campus dining partner,
also delivered remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
“Being a Tech alum, it’s important to me to have alumni partnerships,” shared Anderson.
“Jeremy, his wife Lauren and the entire Poet’s team have been fantastic to work with.
All the feedback we are hearing from the students, folks in the library and people
across campus has been amazing. We look forward to a long, long partnership.”
Following spring break, the campus location of Poet’s Coffee will resume hours of
7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with plans to expand its hours in the
near future. Find hours and addresses for all Poet’s Coffee locations at www.poetscookeville.com.