Saint Bonaventure University is known for basketball, beer, and, now, coffee beans.

BY DUSTYN GREEN

(L to R) RocketCup Coffee co-founders Tom Cullen and Steve McClain. Photo: Courtesy company

In the spring of 2021, college students Morgan Wahl and Noah Minton were discussing business ideas during an entrepreneurship class at Saint Bonaventure University. The small school, located in New York about 70 miles south of Buffalo, was in the news recently for hiring alum and former ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski as general manager of its basketball program. 

At one point during the brainstorming session, the idea of a community-focused coffee business surfaced, and their professor, Tom Cullen charged his students with developing a business plan for the potential venture. A year later, that plan turned into a real business when Cullen co-founded RocketCup Coffee with Saint Bonaventure graduate Steve McClain and then-student Mackenzie Bush. 

RocketCup, which Cullen has bootstrapped, has rapidly expanded its footprint, launching as a subscription coffee service and B2B wholesaler in 2022, opening a cafe in nearby Cattaraugus, New York, in 2023, and a second cafe in Olean, just a few miles down the road from Saint Bonaventure, in May 2024.

RocketCup also built a headquarters in Cattaraugus, which includes a roastery and speakeasy that opened to the public in October 2024. Patrons can take a tour, roast their........

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