Starbucks announced plans this week to open a training facility in White Center. The new store is part of Starbucks nationwide initiative to support local economic development in at least 15 diverse, low- to- medium-income communities by 2018. Similar stores are planned in five additional communities, including Englewood Colorado, Baltimore, Birmingham, Long Beach, CA, and the Miami metropolitan area. The first of these stores is set to open in early 2017 in Baltimore where Starbucks has been working with the local community, as well as civic and business leaders with the collective goal of addressing the opportunity gap facing the city’s young men and women.

To determine which communities are a good fit for the initiative, Starbucks looks at all the available data on the socio-economic health of America’s cities to understand which communities have the biggest opportunity gaps, which have the biggest need for business investment and leadership, and where there is local movement underway to build a better future for its residents. Starbucks plans to accelerate the development of these stores over the next two years with the goal of opening in at least 15 cities by the end of 2018.

For Starbucks, the new stores form a key part of the company’s long-term commitment to connect opportunity youth – 16-24 year olds who are out of work and school – to jobs. Nationally, 1 in 7 young people are disconnected from the economy, a challenge that is exponentially worse in low-income communities, particularly among people of color.

The new store/training center will be located at the corner of 100th Street SW and 16th SW on the site of the former Chevron gas station.