Red Rooster Coffee Is Brewing Community Support in Rural Virginia

Company Name: Red Rooster Coffee

Location: Floyd, Virginia

Year Founded: 2010

Website: redroostercoffee.com 

When Red Rooster Coffee opened its doors in 2010 in the tiny town of Floyd, Virginia, the founders weren’t just building a specialty coffee roastery. They were laying the foundation for a business that would become a social anchor in a community of just 432 people. 

Fifteen years later, Red Rooster employs nearly 50 people, supports numerous local organizations, and continues to prove that small businesses in rural America can create an outsized impact. This business has truly earned its title as the finalist in the Community Champions category of the 2025 CO—100, thanks to its commitment to the people and place where its high-quality coffee was first brewed.

Brewing a business that takes care of the community

Red Rooster’s small-lot international coffees have earned the business plenty of accolades, including Good Food Awards and a national title in the “America’s Best Espresso” competition. But for Co-Owner Haden Polseno-Hensley, recognition is only part of the story.

“Every choice we make here at Red Rooster is based on the idea that we operate under four main tenets, which are taking great care of the coffee …, taking care of the producers who produce the coffee, taking care of our employees, and taking care of our community,” Polseno-Hensley said.

It’s a philosophy that blends craftsmanship with conscience, ensuring every bag of beans carries both flavor and a deeper purpose. 

“We're not just selling coffee beans,” explained Polseno-Hensley. “We're delivering a complete coffee experience that includes education, community impact, and transparent sourcing practices.”

[Read more: How to Make Employees Feel Like Family] 

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Investing in the people of Floyd

Red Rooster believes that “caring about coffee starts with caring about people.” In 2018, Red Rooster opened Yellow Hen Child Care, an affordable on-site childcare facility for employees’ families. In a rural county with limited options, this allowed parents to stay in the workforce, especially since the company covers 70% of the operating expenses.

Beyond its doors, Red Rooster supports local students with laptops and an annual $1,000 diversity scholarship, and donates $1 from every bag of its Grateful Coffee to organizations such as SustainFloyd, the Floyd Safe Housing initiative, and the Plenty! food bank. During the pandemic, its Win-Win Campaign raised over $60,000 to provide 6,000-plus meals while keeping staff employed—proof that the roastery could keep hope percolating through the community.

“So much of what we do and what we think about is, ‘How can we best leverage our money in the community?’” Polseno-Hensley said. “Whatever we have to give, we want to leverage it directly here and in our local community because it not only supports our customers [and] our community, but it also ends up supporting our employees in so many ways.”

For Hensley and his team, these programs are not side projects but part of the same business model that governs roasting, packaging, and distribution. Each initiative reflects the idea that building a thriving company in Floyd means investing directly in the health, education, and resilience of its people.

[Read more: How to Help Employees With Child Care] 

Strengthening rural roots with national reach

Red Rooster’s passion for supporting its community is brewed right into its business model. Through wholesale and subscription services, its award-winning blends reach customers across the country. Every bag sold helps bring money back into Floyd, turning national growth into local opportunity.

“We almost sort of think [of] ourselves as sort of having a Robin Hood effect,” Polseno-Hensley said. “We sell our product out to the greater nation, and then we can bring some of [those] funds back and redistribute [them] here in Floyd and really try and help our community.”

For Polseno-Hensley, that mission is as personal as it is practical.

“My wife [co-owner Rose McCutchan] and I both grew up here,” he explained. “We were both born and raised here and met in high school. The thing that makes us different is how rural we are, and how focused we are on this rural community.”

View the full 2025 CO— 100 List, here.

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