Starbucks shines spotlight on Puyallup store manager

A South Hill Starbucks was bustling with activity Monday morning as Starbucks executive vice president, U.S. retail Kris Engskov and other Starbucks company leaders stopped by for a visit.

The Puyallup coffee shop at 4423 S. Meridian was first on the Starbucks leadership team’s North Star Road Show, which will travel to 20 stores this summer to recognize employees, or “partners,” creating community connections.

And it was the hard work of store manager Steven Perez the team wanted to recognize.

“He not only sees this as his job but as his life,” Engskov said.

A Starbucks manager for seven years, the 26-year-old Perez is also a coach for Emerald Ridge High School’s football team. He grew up in Puyallup and attended Hunt Elementary, Ballou Junior High and Emerald Ridge High.

Perez played a big role in getting his team at Starbucks involved in education in the Puyallup School District.

“Wherever we are, our mission is to be involved in the community,” Perez said. “We don’t want to just be a coffee company, we want to be a people company.”

For years, Perez’s Starbucks team of 12 employees have been involved in the Puyallup School District’s Ignite the Future program, which teaches junior high students skills for the working world.

“We come in and talk about what it takes to get your first job,” said Perez.

The Starbucks team is also a part of the Junior Achievement organization, which teaches students skills they might not learn in school, such as how to balance a checkbook.

“It’s very humbling to come to a store like this and see the impact we can have on the community and how we can help,” Engskov said.

Over the years, Perez found many of his customers to be from the school district, both teachers and students. The store, which is walk-in only and will celebrate its 25th anniversary in September, is almost like a community center, said Lisa Haeg, Starbucks district manager.

Haeg reached out to local community members about the celebration and received an immense response. Coworkers and friends, from the Emerald Ridge football team to Perez’s regular customers, attended Monday to show their support.

“Because they love this store, they’re happy to come here and be a part of this,” Haeg said.

Puyallup School District chief operations officer Mario Casello thanked Perez and the team for their success in helping teach students life skills.

“A lot of it has to do with that relationship,” Casello said.

“Steven deserves this … he has a passion for this community,” added Wesley Homes Bradley Lake representative Jamie Gregory.

Perez was given a honorary Starbucks Pacific Northwest coin for his hard work and felt humbled.

“I really don’t want this to be all about me — it’s about the team,” he said.

“What a great place to start this (tour),” Engskov said. “It’s going to be very hard to top what we saw in Puyallup.”

This story was originally published July 18, 2017 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Starbucks shines spotlight on Puyallup store manager."