Student Entrepreneurs Open Island Espresso Coffee Kiosk at Oakland International Airport

Oakland, CA, March 19, 2003 – High school students from the Alameda Unified School District today served a ceremonial cappuccino to State Assemblywoman Wilma Chan to officially open Island Espresso, a new student-run business at Oakland International Airport. The business is a joint-venture project between the Port of Oakland and the Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) Regional Occupation Program (ROP).

Island Espresso, located in the Terminal Two baggage claim area, employs some 11 students from the city of Alameda’s three high schools, Alameda, Encinal and Island High. Open daily from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., Island Espresso offers a variety of specialty coffee drinks, juices and pastries. Washington-based Tully’s Coffee donated the espresso machine and trained the students on its use.

"Oakland International Airport and the Port of Oakland are pleased to partner with the Alameda Unified School District to showcase Alameda County’s newest business enterprise," said Steve Grossman, director of aviation for the Port of Oakland. "Island Espresso is a welcome addition to our other food and beverage concessions, especially with its prime location to serve the needs of the traveling public."

Terminal Two is used solely by Southwest Airlines, which serves about 60 percent of Oakland International’s daily passengers. Prior to the opening of Island Espresso, Terminal Two passengers had to go beyond the passenger security checkpoint to purchase something to eat or drink.

Island Espresso will be run similarly to the student-run business in Terminal One operated by Oakland’s Castlemont High School since 1997.

"Island Espresso was the brainchild of State Assemblywoman Wilma Chan and under the direction of our regional occupation program, we’ve now given our high school students a great opportunity to learn about running a business from the ground up," said AUSD Superintendent Alan Nishino.

Island Espresso crewmember Suzy Cazares, a student in the Food Service Careers program at Island High School, said she found out there is a lot more to running the coffee kiosk than making coffee drinks. "I also learned how to do a business plan, select vendors, and run a small business." The school has approximately 100 students enrolled in its food service career program.

The Alameda Unified School District's ROP program provides instruction and training in a variety of career options. Other ROP classes offered include Auto Technology, Cable Television/Media Operations, Careers with Children, Computers in Business, Cosmetology, Desktop Publishing, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management, Marketing Education, Computer Repair and Web Page Design. Approximately 800 11th and 12th graders take classes in the District's ROP program.

Oakland International Airport has 200 flights a day on 14 domestic and international carriers to 36 nonstop destinations, including Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., the Hawaiian Islands, Mexico and Costa Rica (service begins May 2003). The airport is a revenue division of the Port of Oakland, an independent department of the city of Oakland.

Oakland International consistently has the fewest weather-related flight delays in the Bay Area. It is the only Bay Area airport with a dedicated shuttle bus that meets every Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system train at the nearby Coliseum station. Travelers are reminded that the 98th Avenue corridor is open to both inbound and outbound traffic creating a fast, direct route to and from Interstate 880. Once at the airport, motorists can tune to 1700 AM for current airport information. For information on ground transportation and parking services, call 1-888-IFLYOAK (435-9625).