Breaking today via BusinessWire.com, the favored upload platform for Manhattan PR agencies, noted restaurateur and hospitality maven Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group has announced an investment in Joe Coffee, the pioneering New York cafe & roasting brand with 15 locations and counting. The news was announced first to Joe staff at an all-staff meeting last week in Manhattan, during which time Meyer himself presented to the company's staff of 200+.

The move is the first in a planned new wave of significant local investments to be made through the USHG to support hospitality businesses, and will allow for the expansion of five more Joe cafes planned for 2017, plus a high-profile wholesale partnership at USHG's soon-to-open Daily Provisions, a fast casual bakery/cafe/rotisserie chicken joint that will open next to Union Square Cafe in February 2017.

To learn more about the project, Sprudge has an exclusive first interview with Joe Coffee co-founder and president Jonathan Rubinstein, which you can read here. More background information comes via the press release from Michelle Lehmann Communications:

Joe Coffee, one of the early pioneers of the third wave coffee movement in New York and a leader in the industry, was a natural investment given the company’s commitment to brewing the highest quality, responsibly-sourced beans, and its passion for serving coffee with warm and genuine hospitality. Joe has become the ultimate neighborhood coffee bar—a place for and of the community—for guests to gather, work, ponder, and perk up. The company roasts all of its own coffees in Red Hook, Brooklyn for its 15 cafes, as well as for many of the country’s most esteemed restaurants. “Historically we’ve had the privilege of investing in some incredibly special companies whose cultures, leaders, and innovative business models caught our eyes, and Joe is no different,” said Danny Meyer, Chief Executive Officer of Union Square Hospitality Group. “USHG has had a meaningful relationship with Joe Coffee and founder Jonathan Rubinstein for many years, both as avid fans of their coffee bars and also having served their coffee at Union Square Events for years. We chose to make this investment with Joe Coffee because they are dedicated to the pursuit of making flawless coffee, are led by passionate and exceptional management, and share the same hospitality values as USHG.” “We are incredibly proud and humbled that USHG and its affiliates have chosen to invest in Joe,” said Jonathan Rubinstein, Co-Founder and President of Joe Coffee. “Danny Meyer is a leader I have admired my entire professional career and to have the opportunity to partner with him and his outstanding team at Union Square Hospitality Group is a dream come true. With this new funding, we will continue to do what we love—roast, brew, and serve the best quality coffee with genuine hospitality—and now we are excited to bring Joe to even more great communities across the country.”

Read our interview with Joe Coffee co-founder and president Jonathan Rubinstein.