Although they preserved the distinctive name of a previous business when they launched the White Electric Coffee shop in September 2000, Jed Arkley and Tonya Langford didn't hesitate to add their own ideas to the mix. Besides offering a good cup of java and an amiable gathering point at 150 Broadway on Providence's West Side, the couple helped to start Urban Greens, a wholesale food-buying club. They also donate coffee for community events, display work by local artists, and host occasional idiosyncratic happenings, such as a screening this Saturday, May 18 at 8 p.m. ($4) of D.I.Y. or Die, a film about surviving as an independent artist.

Starting without a plan or previous business experience, the former Seattle residents, who are both 28, nonetheless had some clear objectives for their coffee mecca. As Langford says, "We knew what our core values were and we wanted to maintain those values in a big way. We're mission-driven, not profit-driven."

In maintaining the White Electric name, Langford and Arkley honor tradition. A framed copy of a 1995 Providence Journal story in the store describes how two previous proprietors, who repaired lawn mowers and chainsaws for almost 50 years, kept the name after original owner Ed White sold his electrical business in 1933.

Things have worked out with a certain serendipity, as evidenced by the stream of regulars who stopped by to get their daily caffeine fix on a recent weekday morning. Business is good enough that the proprietors were able to hire some staff, and Langford now works as director of programs for the Arts and Business Council of Rhode Island. Arkley, meanwhile, has more time to dream up schemes with his coffee colleagues, like starting the incipient Providence Kickball League.

Come again?

It was the dead of winter, Arkley explains, when Robin, White Electric's manager, and he developed the idea of staging a series of Saturday evening kickball games, starting in June, at Olneyville's Donigian Park. Aspiring players can contact the organizer at jedarkley@yahoo. com. "More than anything, obviously, it's going to be fun," he says. "We'll have as few rules as possible. We'll see how it works. In a worst-case scenario, we'll have the park on Saturday evenings."

Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.

Issue Date: May 17 - 23, 2002