From the campus Brickyard to four brick-and-mortar storefronts, 321 Coffee grew into a thriving social enterprise with the tools, resources and connections its founders discovered at NC State. Here we Think and Do — and brew — for the greater good.
The story of 321 Coffee is a full-circle NC State success story for alumni Lindsay Wrege and Michael Evans, and it goes like this:
They connect as first-year students, through the Park Scholarships program.
Over lunch one day, Lindsay shares her vision for a coffee company that employs adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
They find friends and faculty who support their big ideas and help bring them to life.
Scholarships allow them to graduate from college debt-free and focus on their business.
They tap into entrepreneurship resources to navigate startup challenges.
They grow their business and start roasting their own coffee.
They bring 321 Coffee back to NC State with a new partnership — a co-branded coffee that supports student scholarships for future generations of the Wolfpack.
It’s a partnership that supports their mission and ours. As a next-generation public university, we’re committed to investing in partnerships, facilities, people and research that help us create opportunities, solve problems and improve lives in North Carolina and beyond.
Savor Our Coffee Origin Story
Lindsay and Michael started 321 Coffee with a folding table on NC State’s Brickyard. Today, they operate four retail locations and have created more than 50 jobs for people with IDD. With the help of NC State resources, they turned a great idea into a thriving business.
People who come to NC State look at challenges and dream of solutions. The founders of 321 Coffee had a great idea to address the underemployment of adults with IDD, and we helped them bring it to life with new tools and a Wolfpack behind them.
“We were given a lot of great access to new resources, and through that we were able to do a lot of good for the community.“
Lindsay Wrege
B.S. business administration ’21 Co-founder of 321 Coffee
From the ocean floor to the stars, from medieval manuscripts to inclusive coffee companies — our Wolfpack is changing how things are done and how we understand our world. We bring together leading researchers from different disciplines to tackle grand challenges, and we do it as well as any university in the country.
25 faculty members
are members of the National Academies
$476 million
in sponsored research awards received in fiscal year 2023
14 startups
launched on NC State research in 2023
Rodolphe Barrangou, the Todd R. Klaenhammer Distinguished Professor in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was the latest member of our faculty inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
The Heartland Forward think tank ranked us No. 7 nationally for technology transfer and commercialization, and No. 2 among public universities — including those with medical schools.
Renovations and new developments on campus will foster cooperation across departments and colleges, enabling students and researchers to work closely together to solve global challenges.
Lindsay and Michael saw a lack of opportunities for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and they came up with a solution to give them meaningful employment. To empower our Wolfpack to keep solving tough challenges — and to meet the needs of our state’s thriving research and technology sectors — we’re preparing our campus with state-of-the-art spaces.
Our Physical Master Plan, “Framing the Future,” envisions a built environment founded upon interdisciplinarity, with welcoming, open and flexible multipurpose facilities designed for instruction and collaboration across the sciences.
The state of N.C. invested $50 million to expand our engineering programs with 4,000 new students over five years.
In September, we broke ground on the 153,000-square-foot Integrative Sciences Building (ISB). Once construction is complete in 2026, the $180 million ISB will provide vital space for STEM research, teaching and exploration.
In anticipation of this growth, NC State is updating our electric distribution system. The Power Forward project will ensure the system is safe, reliable, self-healing and futureproof. This multiyear, multiphase project is expected to be complete in 2025.
The John M. Belk Endowment committed $25 million to support the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research, housed at the College of Education. Investing in the leaders of North Carolina’s 58 community colleges will improve quality and access to higher education statewide and support student success.
People with big ideas need a university that rises to meet them. That’s what the founders of 321 Coffee discovered at NC State. We welcome all students into our research labs, campus community centers and entrepreneurship spaces. Our academic programs cross disciplines to connect them with other innovative thinkers, broaden their perspectives and prepare them for a lifetime of personal and professional discovery.
5,655 first-year students
enrolled in August 2023 — our largest class in history for the fourth year in a row
#5 best value
among public universities nationally, according to U.S. News & World Report
1 moon-bound astronaut alumna
Christina Koch was selected to go to the moon with NASA’s upcoming Artemis II mission.
We continue to educate more North Carolina residents than any other university. We set a record for applications this year and are producing more graduates than ever before.
Once they get here, our students excel academically. In the past year, 20 graduate students received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships, 11 graduate students received Fulbright Scholarships and two undergraduates earned Goldwater Scholarships.
Football coach Dave Doeren and his wife, Sara, made a gift to establish the OnePack Empowered program, which will support students with executive functioning challenges and those who are neurodivergent.
2023 Chancellor’s Report
This was a year of profound transformation for our Wolfpack. See what we accomplished — and where we’re headed next.
