New Coffee Shop Opens At Rowan College at Burlington County

MOUNT LAUREL TOWNSHIP – A different kind of coffee shop held its grand opening on Tuesday inside the Student Success Center at the Rowan College at Burlington County’s Mt. Laurel Campus, the college said in a press release.

That’s because when Saxby’s sets up operations in a college setting, it operates using what it calls an Experiential Learning Platform model, meaning a student is chosen as on-site CEO, according to the press release.

Owen Taylor, an RCBC student majoring in the college's 3+1 Business Administration program, was chosen as RCBC Saxby’s inaugural CEO, the press release stated. He is in charge of everything onsite – from purchasing supplies to managing the financial books to choosing those of his classmates that take on the additional role of employee, the press release continued.

Simultaneously, the employees he chooses get real-world experience that may help them decide if a career in food service is right for them, according to Taylor.

“It gives us an opportunity to make mistakes, grow and learn together within a working environment,” he said.

Although the college said Saxby’s has conducted this business model at other colleges and universities– St. Joseph’s University, Rider University and Rowan College of Business, to name a few – the RCBC site marks the first time a community college has opened a Saxby’s, according to RCBC president Michael A. Cioce.

“Aramark used to be our corporate partner for the coffee shop,” he told Patch. When that company pulled out during the pandemic, he said he went out looking for a partner and found Saxby’s.

“I found these amazing people who are doing this [kind of program] in the college space and we hustled” to make it possible, Cioce said.

Saxby's RCBC is open Mondays through Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Fridays from 7:30 a.m to 3 p.m., according to the college.

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