Kelsie Kay’s Coffee Depot graduates from incubator program and moves to new location.

In 2018, when Kelsie Kay Haskell participated in our revamped credit builder program – called our Financial Coaching Empowerment Program – she said she felt like she was getting somewhere. Kelsie was no stranger to Four Bands. She first utilized our credit builder loan in 2009, but found herself in a revolving cycle of debt. With the new components of our Financial Coaching Empowerment Program, Kelsie began regularly meeting with her own personal financial coach, set and achieved several financial goals, and started making deposits in a savings account.

Kelsie said there was a “100% turn-around” in her financial habits, and she never looked back.

In addition to raising her credit score by 80 points, Kelsie saved enough money to start her own business, which had been a long-time dream of hers. Kelsie Kay’s Coffee Depot was one of our first tenants when we opened our incubator facility in 2019. Selling hot and iced coffees, bagels, beadwork, and a variety of gift items, Kelsie’s business was a huge success almost immediately. As an incubator tenant, Kelsie had the opportunity to utilize our equity bundle product to help build her business through a variety of marketing services. In addition, through our business development service program, Kelsie established a working relationship with a professional accounting and bookkeeping firm. With this help, she has implemented systems within her business to continuously monitor the financial health of her business. Kelsie Kay’s Coffee Depot had just gotten established within the community when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“The outlook was looking really good for 2020 and then corona hit, but even for me, it wasn’t absolutely horrible,” said Kelsie.

Despite having to shift to 100% curbside delivery, Kelsie was determined not to let the pandemic hold her back. She created an online store so that she could implement contactless transactions and work within the new public health regulations.

“I don’t use a computer at all in everyday life, but it turned out OK and I was able to connect it to Square.”

Kelsie acknowledges that without these adjustments things could have been a lot worse. According to her coffee bean vendor, many coffee shops did not make it through the public health and economic crisis.

Then in late 2020, an unexpected opportunity came up. A building Kelsie had her heart set on for almost 10 years came up for sale. Kelsie wasn’t going to let her dream pass her by.

In talking with the property owner, she said, “I don’t know how I’m going to pay for it, but I’ll get you a check.

She immediately called Four Bands and began working on the financing to purchase and renovate the property on Main Street in downtown Eagle Butte. Although one of the first to start in our incubator program, Kelsie has been the first to graduate. Kelsie Kay’s Coffee Depot held a grand opening celebration on September 17, 2021 in the new building at 225 South Main Street in Eagle Butte, South Dakota.

Phone: 605-964-3687
Fax: 605-964-3689
Eagle Butte, SD 57625
412 S. Main Street