Three young Penn State alumni have taken college staples -- coffee, cupcakes and fries -- and turned them into small businesses. Each of the entrepreneurs graduated or started their college career at the Lehigh Valley campus.
XOXO Cupcakes
When Jacqui Kromer-Verhauz, 2006, graduated, she had her sights set on a career that would utilize the psychology degree she worked so hard to earn. She found her perfect job as the DUI and Drug and Alcohol Prevention Specialist for the Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission.
“I started my job in November 2007 and I still love it,” she said. “I get to help a lot of people and that makes me happy.”
Then, after graduation, she found a hobby that grew into an equally satisfying passion. Now, she is luckier—and busier than most—as she spends her days helping others and her nights and weekends baking.
It all started when she was given The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook by her friend and fellow alumna Cindy Nguyen, 2000, who asked her to make Red Velvet cupcakes.
“They turned out perfect, and I just kept going from there,” Verhauz said.
Despite coming from a family of bakers, she never really saw herself pursuing the trade.
“My uncle was a baker and I used to watch him make wedding cakes out of his house,” she said. “My mother was good, too, but she never did it commercially.”
Verhauz’s first official baking challenge was a birthday cake she made for her mother’s 50th birthday.
“It turned out really well. I was proud and surprised,” she said, “but it wasn’t until I started to focus on cupcakes that everything really came together.”
She quickly went from baking cupcakes using recipes, to developing her own recipes and experimenting with flavors.
“Whatever people can think up, I want to try to make,” she said.
She has developed a Pink Lemonade cupcake for breast cancer awareness and a Vanilla Latte cupcake. In 2014, she entered her own “Butterbeer” cupcake into a Cupcake War competition in Schuylkill County. She won best taste out of nearly 75 different cupcakes at the event. The flavor was inspired by a friend who wanted to throw a Harry Potter-themed wedding shower. It took Verhauz four tries, but she finally found the right mixture of butter, vanilla, cream soda, butterscotch, and brown sugar.
“It’s still my most requested cupcake!” she said.
Another cupcake trend that Verhauz has been getting numerous requests for is gender reveal baby showers, where gender neutral cupcakes are made with either pink or blue filling.
“They are so fun,” she said. “People get a big kick out of them, and I love the edible surprise.”
Verhauz started to get serious about her cupcake making a couple of years ago and through a Facebook poll, named her small business XOXO Cupcakes.
“My Penn State alumni friends suggested it because that is always how I sign my letters, texts and emails. I hadn’t thought of it, but it made perfect sense.”
An element of her logo is a ladybug. “I’ve always loved ladybugs and they represent good luck,” she said.
So, after she settled on the name and a ladybug, another alumnus Lori Kapes ’08 created her logo for her.
“This entire business is built from love and friendship and it makes me so happy,” she said.
These days, Verhauz is proud to say she can bake 48 cupcakes in a half an hour.
“I’d like to grow the business, and even own my own cupcake truck, but I am not financially prepared for that yet,” she said.
So for now, Verhauz sells her popular cupcakes for $2 each to friends and family. Her business is promoted simply by word of mouth.
Verhauz often reflects upon her experiences at Penn State Lehigh Valley and the impact it has had on her life. As a student, she was involved with everything from Student Government Association to THON, even representing the campus as a dancer for 46 hours straight in 2004.
From the faculty and staff, to the amazing friends that she met, she said, “It is where I became who I am today. Penn State Lehigh Valley is my heart.”
Verhauz is an active member in the Penn State Lehigh Valley THON alumni group and her cupcakes can often be seen and sampled at local Penn State events.
“To think how much life has happened, I am blessed,” she said. “I was part of the first class to graduate from Penn State Lehigh Valley with a Psychology degree, and the first in my family to graduate from college. Who knows what will happen next?”
FRITES
William R. Scott, 2013, graduated a semester early both from high school and college. An overachiever from an early age, he jumped right into a new challenge after college—opening a restaurant specializing in fries; not just any fries, but Belgian fries, also known as frites. And while the restaurant is less than one year old, he already has visions of expanding. He credits the idea for the restaurant to his dad, Richard Scott, who was raised overseas and was partial to Belgian fries.
“My dad pitched the idea to me while I was doing my summer internship in Maryland,” Scott said.
Together, the family has built their restaurant from the ground up.
“My parents traveled to Belgium to really study the taste, sauces, learn the process and capture the look of Belgium,” he said. “And then we designed our business plan.”
Scott, who spent two years at Penn State Lehigh Valley before moving to University Park to graduate with a degree in finance, said he reached out to his Principles of Marketing (MKTG 301W) instructor from the campus, Joshua Ehrig, who offered advice to the family.
Ehrig said, “test the concept out before you go full on. Do your due diligence.”
The family started with tastings at home with friends and family.
“We tested different cooking times, temperatures, and soaking solutions for crunchiness. When we finally felt comfortable with our magic mixture, we bought a trailer with fryers and took our fries to a local fair at Moravian Academy.”
After a lot of positive feedback from the fair, Scott said the family was feeling pretty confident. Then, a man from Belgium stopped by and offered this advice—lighten the color, modify the flavor and add more crunch. The family went back home for more experimentation.
Changes were made to the recipe and the family took the trailer to Mayfair.
“We had awesome feedback there,” Scott said.
So, they started to look for a permanent location. They chose a small location in the Lehigh Valley Mall near the Lifestyles Shopping entrance. The entire restaurant is a mere 1,406 square feet.
“We use every square inch for peeling potatoes, soaking them, making sauces, keeping the books, frying the frites and serving the customers,” Scott said, “All of our dishes are made to order—there are no heat lamp fries here.”
Scott said, “After a lot of research, mostly on the Internet, but also through word-of-mouth and phone calls, we found suppliers for potatoes, meats, vegetables and everything else needed for a small food business.”
Additionally, all the sauces served with the fries are homemade recipes based on Belgian research, American taste and some experimentation.
“Our chili is handmade starting with chili peppers; our gravy starts with a homemade stock from boiled vegetables; and our pico de gallo is all handcut,” Scott said.
One dish on the menu originated at Mayfair. “We were next to a brisket trailer, so we asked if we could have some to put on our fries. Brisket and fries is a big seller on the menu today,” he said.
The fries are cooked in a peanut oil, which is a deviation of Belgian fries, which are cooked in beef lard.
“Americans try to be healthier, so we worked hard to get the flavor with an oil that had less trans fat,” Scott said.
Part of the business goal is to change the role of fries in America.
“They are more than just a side,” he said alluding to the main course menu items, which include bowls of fries and Frita sandwiches with names like Buffalo Chicken, Pulled Pork Barbecue and Chicken Parmesan.
Scott said they originally thought that cones of basic fries would be the best seller, but as it turns out, the idea of fries being a main course is something their patrons agree with.
“Meals are more popular than cones by about 70 percent to 30 percent,” said Scott.
As for the look of the restaurant, everything was thoroughly researched and designed by the family, including the bold colors, the serving area and the tables, which have holes cut into them to hold cones of fries for easy snacking and sharing.
Overall, Scott said that opening this restaurant with his family is the best decision he has ever made. He is currently a 20 percent owner of the company.
“I had no experience whatsoever running a restaurant, but I am learning every day and I have had a part in building something.”
Despite 60-hour work weeks, Scott said he’s loved every single second of it.
“My goal when I was in college was to be a CFO of a big corporation one day. Now, I look forward to taking over this company when my father retires… again,” he joked.
The future of Frites could take many different paths.
“We are looking at franchise opportunities, or just opening different locations. I’d love to open one in State College,” he said.
Coffee and Donuts
Ravi Dalsania, 2013, likes his coffee black and served with a toasted cinnamon raisin bagel. It’s something he looks forward to every day when he reports to work at his Dunkin Donuts franchise located at Hamilton and Cedar Crest Boulevards in Allentown.
Dalsania knew early on that he would be working in the family business, but it still came as a surprise when his father asked him to take the lead on his own location right after graduating from Penn State Lehigh Valley.
“I was really surprised, but I bought the shares from my uncle and jumped right in,” he said, “My dad has really helped me understand the details of running a business, but ultimately I am the one responsible for keeping this place going.”
His father, Kishor Dalsania, immigrated to America from Gujarat, India and opened his first Dunkin Donuts in 1988 in Hillborough, New Jersey. Today, the family owns eight locations in the Lehigh Valley and has plans to continue growing.
“I am the lead for one store. However, I review the taxes and business numbers for all eight stores, and I am a partner in four,” Dalsania said.
Dalsania reports to work by 6:30 each morning, seven days a week. After helping with the morning rush by making coffee, stocking donuts and serving customers, he retreats to a back office to spend the rest of his day on paperwork.
“I am still surprised everyday! Everything is about number crunching,” Dalsania said.
Dalsania says his team makes it a great place to work.
“I treat all my employees like family and I know all of their families,” he said. “It’s fun.”
There are 15 employees who work at the shop, however, they often help out other stores by “loaning” out employees if there are staffing issues.
Running a franchise requires a lot of coordination. There are specific wholesalers that Dalsania deals with for bagels and muffins, and all the donuts are made from scratch from a trademarked recipe. Not every store has a kitchen, so most of the donuts are made at one store and delivered by 4 a.m. to the other seven in the Dalsania network.
Dalsania said that his education, instructors and the location of Penn State Lehigh Valley were all key in him becoming a business owner.
“If I had gone away to State College, I would not have been able to join the business,” he said.
When asked about Dalsania, one of his favorite faculty members, Ray Hitti, instructor of international business, said, “Ravi was one of the first students that caught my attention because he is very motivated and very ambitious. Two words come to mind when I think of him, ‘drive’ and ‘passion.’ He was always willing to go the extra mile to learn.”
Dalsania, a newlywed, said that his wife recently joined the business and works at a different location.
“It’s hard work, but at the end of the night, I’m proud to be a business owner,” he said.
Dalsania already has dreams of starting a new business, maybe something with real estate. Stay tuned.