when you want, where you want.
Caffeinated by design: Why coffee is critical infrastructure at Topeka’s new innovation hub
Sparrow Coffee Co. roasts second home inside Link Innovation Labs as space prioritizes local small businesses alongside startups
TOPEKA — When a hotly-anticipated innovation hub opens its doors Feb. 9 in downtown Topeka, visitors might notice the scent of freshly brewed coffee before they even catch sight of the startup space’s state-of-the art high-tech labs.
Sparrow Coffee Co. — a young, locally owned business best known for its north Topeka drive-through operation — is preparing to debut its first sit-down café; a second location for the brand inside Link Innovation Labs. For the founders, the move represents both a leap of faith and a deliberate step deeper into Topeka’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.
For Link’s backers, the coffee shop is no afterthought. It’s part of the infrastructure.
Sparrow’s flight from drive-thru to sit-down
Sparrow’s original location opened just over a year ago, launching a drive-through operation in north Topeka after its founders — Jaime McKinley, Anna Canepa and Jeremy Layden — found each other through a mix of persistence, community connections and, they say, prayer.
The original vision wasn’t even a drive-through.
“I had this overwhelming feeling several years ago: ‘You need to start a coffee shop,’” Canepa said. “And I’m not really a coffee person. My goal actually was to create a space for a family coffee shop. If you have little kids — where are you going to go hang out and take your children?”
The drive-through came first, in part because of opportunity and timing. The second, downtown location — built for a more traditional, slower-paced coffee experience — followed naturally once Link entered the picture.
“That idea of being able to serve people in the same space was really attractive,” Canepa said. “Being downtown, being involved in a project that’s pretty cool — none of us are sure what it’s going to be, what it’s going to mean for Topeka — but to be on the ground floor of something like that is pretty exciting.”
The Sparrow Coffee Co. shop inside the lobby at Link Innovation Labs; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News
Answering a citywide call
Sparrow wasn’t recruited quietly. The GO Topeka team behind the Link project issued a broad inquiry to local coffee shops as the innovation hub’s planning progressed.
“They had sent out an email to all the local coffee shops in town,” Layden said. “We read it, thought it was an interesting idea, and asked for more information.”
At least four other shops were contacted, the owners said. Sparrow ultimately emerged as the fit for Link’s downtown space — not just for coffee quality, but for alignment with the innovation space’s broader mission around community and collaboration.
The founders were already plugged into the same ecosystem Link is designed to serve.
“We are part of the Greater Topeka Partnership, and with the SBDC — they were very vital in helping us come up with our business concepts,” Layden said. “So it is cool to hear that they’re going to also be in that building.”
Jaime McKinley prepares a cup of coffee at the new Sparrow Coffee Co. space inside Link Innovation Labs; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News
Brewing vibes for the collaborating class
Link Innovation Labs is a technically demanding project, purpose-built to support startups — particularly in animal health and science — with lab space, offices and shared amenities. The building itself is a retrofit of a former AT&T telecom facility, a multi-year effort led by KBS Constructors.
Gina Patterson, marketing director at KBS, said the space now percolating for Sparrow was always seen as essential to the building’s success.
“We knew that a coffee shop would be going in,” Patterson said. “We wanted to help get that so they would be able to have somebody in there. A lot of these are startups — they need to be able to make some meaningful connections. How do people do that? It’s great to have a beverage and be able to visit.”
KBS — headquartered in Topeka with an additional office in Olathe — serves as the general contractor on LINK. The firm also stepped in as a sponsor to help make the coffee component viable.
“We really wanted the project to be successful,” Patterson said. “So we went in on that sponsorship.”
Stephanie Moran, senior vice president of innovation for GO Topeka, smiles as she awaits coffee from Sparrow Coffee Co. at Link Innovation Labs in Topeka; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News
Preening for a downtown debut
For Sparrow, the Link café will look and feel different from its north Topeka drive-through. The founders are already thinking carefully about design, presentation and professionalism.
“We’re aware it’s a different look,” McKinley said. “Legislators might be coming through on the way to the Capitol. Our employees here can wear whatever they want because you only see their top half. Downtown, they need to wear their uniforms. The mugs are going to be different. Even the sign outside has to look different.”
The shift also creates space for deeper interaction — something the owners said they value.
“We work really hard here to get to know people through a drive-through,” Canepa said. “But this gives us even more opportunity to connect. We’ll have more face time with our customers in a café versus a drive-through.”
Sparrow also plans to use the Link location to highlight other Kansas-based makers.
“We’re planning a little section of made-in-Kansas products — honey, jams, other small businesses — to really show that we’re part of a bigger ecosystem,” Canepa said.
Building to last
Link itself is anything but simple. Patterson describes the project as a strong example of the type of work KBS specializes in.
“We like to do laboratories. We like critical-environment construction,” she said. “It takes expertise and knowledge to build those spaces. This is a special project because of the technical expertise that it requires.”
KBS is currently involved in multiple major downtown Topeka projects, representing roughly $70 million in construction within a mile radius, according to company leadership. Link fits squarely into that broader wave of redevelopment.
“KBS stands for Knowledge Beyond Structures,” Patterson said. “We’re problem solvers. We do our homework. We research it. We know every bit and piece of that construction and help people find solutions to get the job done.”
Wooden links adorn the ceiling above Sparrow Coffee Co. inside the Link Innovation Labs space in Topeka; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News
The first Links in a chain of Topeka innovation
Sparrow Coffee Co. is expected to open inside Link Innovation Labs in early February, aligning with the building’s public launch. Plug and Play Topeka is already announced as another early tenant, with additional organizations expected to follow.
For Sparrow’s founders, the move is both exciting and nerve-wracking — in the way many startup steps feel.
“Other than the obvious — I hope we can pay our bills,” McKinley said, laughing. “But it’s exciting. People from around the country could be coming through that space. To be able to showcase a little tweak of Kansas — we’re in the middle of the United States — what do we have? Well, we have the best coffee in town.”
In a building designed to accelerate innovation, Sparrow’s role is simple but strategic: create a place where people linger, talk and connect — one cup at a time.
Haines Eason is the owner of startup content marketing agency Freelance Kansas. Previously he worked as a managing editor for a corporate content marketing team and as a communications professional at KU. His work has appeared in publications like The Guardian, Eater and KANSAS! Magazine among others. Learn about him and Freelance Kansas on LinkedIn.
The post Caffeinated by design: Why coffee is critical infrastructure at Topeka’s new innovation hub appeared first on Startland News.