Business on the Move: Near Island Coffee

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Brianna Gibbs/KMXT

It’s time now for the first installment of KMXT’s five-part series: Business on the Move. Each day this week KMXT will feature a local business that is changing things up in 2013.

The New Year is often considered a time for new beginnings, and so is the case with today’s business. A short drive across the Fred Zharoff Memorial Bridge will take you past a recently opened drive-through café, the first and only coffee shop on Near Island. Near Island Coffee is the brainchild of Jasmine Gilpin, who now manages the stand. Gilpin moved to Kodiak five months ago, and after struggling to find a job decided to make her own employment opportunities. She said she saw the vacant lots on Near Island, one that already housed a small building, and thought a coffee shop might be a needed amenity.

Local Businesses on Alert as Property Crimes Continue

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Brianna Gibbs/KMXT

A handful of break-ins that occurred last weekend are being investigated by the Kodiak Police Department and Alaska State Troopers. Jasmine Gilpin is the manager of Near Island Coffee, a new drive-through coffee shop across the bridge on Near Island. The coffee shop has only been open for ten days, but Gilpin said she arrived early Sunday morning to a broken window.