Frostburg,
one of Maryland’s college towns, is made up of many small businesses, many of
them being restaurants. SHIFT, is one of those small businesses. Located on S.
Broadway, right next to the town’s police station, SHIFT fits right in with the
community being a 15-minute walk from Frostburg State University.
SHIFT was founded three years ago
by Jes Clay and Jason Yowell, her husband who assists her in running the
Allegany Trail House, a Bed and Breakfast not far from main street. This
restaurant [SHIFT] specializes in locally grown ingredients from nearby farms,
ordered the night before and delivered by the next morning, keeping the produce
fresh for the customer.
When approaching the building,
SHIFT looks like a small corner shop with offices on the second floor. However,
the restaurant itself is bigger and wider on the inside. The building is a one
room establishment with the “second floor windows” serving as decorations. The
tables are spaced out in the center with the kitchen out in the open for all
customers to see. Clay describes the menu as “a focus on a fusion of European
comfort foods to a more Asian directive” but will serve whatever is offered by
local farms.
Jes Clay’s day at SHIFT begins
when her morning duties (much of them the same as SHIFT) at the bed and
Breakfast is finished. At 11 A.M. she opens the restaurant for lunch. She does
not seem to mind that business is not busy for most of the day. “Business comes
and goes really. The lunch rush is typically from 11-2 while dinner is from 6-8,
but it varies throughout the day”, Clay explained. While she runs the
administrative duties of being a business owner, she also cooks with her
employees.
Clay, the owner of the
restaurant, came to Frostburg almost 15 years ago as a student at FSU. Clay
enrolled in 2000 seeking to major in Mass Communications with a focus in
marketing. While attending classes, she took a job at a “Rock n’ Roll Night
Club” called “The Beegle”, named after The Regal Beagle, a pub from the hit
sitcom Three’s Company.
After taking a few years off, she
eventually graduated in 2006 with her Mass Coms major. Even with a degree, she
was feeling directionless. By the time she reached her 30s, inspiration hit
her. With her passion for cooking, she set up an outdoor kitchen to improve her
skills. By 2015, she was looking for a prime spot to set up an organic
restaurant and thus, SHIFT was born.
While Jason Yowell is not
specifically an employee, his passions certainly are not hard to miss. Along
the windows are bicycle wheels turned into stained glass art. SHIFT also
showcases the community’s artwork along on the walls, adding flavor to an
otherwise beige setting,
Clay seems to be a busy person
running a Bed and Breakfast while running a restaurant at the same time. Like
any owner, she mentions the perks and drawbacks. “While it’s great to make new
friends and meet new people, this is a college town. At the same time, people
come and go and business slows down when students are gone for the summer”,
Clay said.
She doesn’t let those drawbacks
get to her. Despite the long hours caused by running two businesses, she enjoys
the change of meeting new people. Why does she keep doing this? “I want to make
people happy”, she simply explains.
Jes Clay is just one of the many
alumni that own a business in Frostburg. Jessica Palumbo, wgo graduated in 2009
as an English major, is the Main Street Manager of FrostburgFirst, located
right above City Hall. “FrostburgFirst is part of a Main Street Program that
helps revitalize downtowns.”, Palumbo explains. The goal of her organization is
based on five principles:
1. Organization
2. Promotion
3. Economic Restructure
4. Design
5. Maintaining a clean
environment
FrostburgFirst’s role in the
community is to create a successful business plan with the above goals in mind
as well as to promote activities on main street.
According to Palumbo,
approximately 25% of business in Frostburg are owned by a FSU alumni.
As for the impact of student
shopping in Frostburg, “I cannot say much about that, but it is something the
city wanted to look at”, Palumbo explains, referring to a possible study of
students and tourists spending activities in town.
Even though there is no hard
evidence that students have an impact on Frostburg, Palumbo states that FSU is
very important to the town. “Without their contributions by shopping and owning
businesses, our local economy of mom and pop shops would not survive. We have
recently experienced a resurgence of revitalization in our downtown, and part
of this is the growing trend in supporting small, local businesses.”
So how does someone like Jes Clay
open up a business such as SHIFT? Having a university near a small downtown
area makes it simple. There are several ways the city works with university.
Some examples are job fairs, different programs that network with employers
(tech industry is more important; more regional)”, Palumbo states.
As for advice for students
looking to start a business? Clay suggests, “Right of the bat, you will face a
lot odds, hard business, doing things no one else wants to do”. As for Palumbo,
“Reach out to as many people as possible. Networking is huge. Talk to your
advisor and ask questions”.
It is clear that Frostburg
depends on Frostburg State University’s students to thrive as a community. “Without
the university, our City would economically suffer.”, Palumbo concluded.
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