Photo by Deb Gau A drive-through Scooter’s Coffee location is under construction at East College Drive and O’Connell Street in Marshall.

MARSHALL — The owners of a new business going up on East College Drive say they hope to bring fast, fresh coffee to customers starting this fall.

“We’re super excited to be part of the Marshall community,” said Jay Van Dyken. Jay and his wife Kim are the franchisees of a new Scooter’s Coffee drive-through location being built at the corner of East College Drive and O’Connell Street.

While there isn’t a set date yet for the business to open, Van Dyken said he hoped Scooter’s will open sometime in October or November.

Construction for the Marshall Scooter’s location started this summer, but the planning went back a few years, Van Dyken said.

“We started looking for a site back in 2022,” he said.

The Van Dykens currently have three other Scooter’s locations in northwest Iowa, he said.

There were a few different things that made Marshall a good fit for a new drive-through, Van Dyken said.

“The size of the town is a really good market for Scooter’s,” he said. Marshall would actually be the largest city the Van Dykens had franchises in, Jay said. They also liked the community.

“I thought they would be very receptive,” Van Dyken said.

Being close to SMSU and Marshall High School also made College Drive an attractive location for the business, Van Dyken said.

Scooter’s Coffee was founded in 1998, with a drive-through coffeehouse in Bellevue, Nebraska. Today, Scooter’s has locations around the region, including in the Sioux Falls area, Brookings, Worthington and Windom, the company website said. The Scooter’s menu offers coffee and other drinks, as well as food.

“We pride ourselves on being fast, fresh and quality,” Van Dyken said.

He said they weren’t trying to compete with cafes that offer more of a sit-down atmosphere.

Van Dyken said a typical Scooter’s location will employ somewhere between 30 and 50 people, with some baristas working part time. For the Marshall location, “We’re probably going to fall somewhere in the middle of that,” he said.

He said Scooter’s would likely start hiring sometime around mid- to late September.

“We look for friendly, outgoing people who can work fast,” he said.

Scooter’s is planned to be open seven days a week, with slightly shorter hours on Saturdays and Sundays, Van Dyken said.

Jay said he and Kim were excited to open their Marshall location. The Van Dykens like to have a presence at their businesses and be active in the community, he said.

So far, it seemed like area residents were also welcoming.

“The anticipation seems to be pretty high, which is great,” Van Dyken said.