Triple Pundit: The Business of Doing Better
How an Ecosystem of Support Changes the Playing Field for Businesses of ColorTriple Pundit Article Excerpt
Words by Glynn LloydAugust 6, 2021
In 2017, the Foundation for Business Equity (FBE) was created to help address the widening income and wealth gap in Greater Boston experienced most acutely by Black and Latinx communities. We focus on scaling businesses of color to create greater wealth for business owners and more jobs with family-sustaining wages in our urban communities.
The racial wealth gap experienced today is the result of a steady accumulation of unfortunate public and private sector actions and policies over centuries. At FBE, we believe that to truly create collaborative ecosystems and programs that remove structural barriers, we must identify, acknowledge, and address each tier of a system that has adversely affected people of color for hundreds of years. At FBE, we recognize:
History: Business and wealth disparities for communities of color are part of American history. The institution of slavery and colonization of Caribbean and Latin American nations, followed by the Jim Crow laws and redlining, are some of the aggregated reasons that have led to disparities of wealth and differently resourced social networks for Black and Latinx business owners.
Leadership with lived experience makes a difference: Our organization’s leaders represent the entrepreneurs we work with. We understand the challenges of the small business ecosystem, specifically for entrepreneurs and businesses of color, because we are entrepreneurs ourselves. This provides a unique vantage point in identifying opportunities to bring in resources where they are needed the most to help business owners of color succeed. This allows us to have frank discussions up front about co-investing in the process of growth….
Nectar Community Investments, with the Boston Foundation and the Local Enterprise Assistance Fund, provided a $900,000 financing package for construction and launch of a Vicente’s Supermarket branch at 452 Mount Pleasant St. Vicente’s estimates the store has created about 30 construction jobs through 10 contractors, most owned by people of color. Read the Article
Fourth Vicente’s supermarket brings jobs, access to healthy food to South Coast community Nectar Community Investments, in partnership with The Boston Foundation and Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF), has provided a financing package for the new Vicente’s Supermarket in New Bedford, Mass. The New Bedford store, which opened today as the company’s fourth location, mirrors the approach of its Brockton and Pawtucket, R.I., markets: located in a low- to moderate-income community adjacent to a food desert and making healthy food accessible to historically underserved neighborhoods. “We’re proud to help provide this critical financing to Vicente’s Supermarket as the company expands into New Bedford,” said Nectar Community Investments Executive Director Glynn Lloyd. “Small businesses are the backbone of the Massachusetts economy, and Vicente’s exemplifies that definition: providing healthy food access, creating jobs and positively impacting the community. Thank you to our ecosystem partners at The Boston Foundation and LEAF as well for teaming up with us to make this financing possible.” “In Brockton and Pawtucket, Vicente’s markets are not only meeting a critical need for food — they are central hubs in their communities,” said Orlando Watkins, Vice President and Chief Program Officer at the Boston Foundation. “The Boston Foundation has a longstanding history …
Nectar’s Executive Director Glynn Lloyd spoke to The Bay State Banner about our organization’s innovative approach and a recent award from the CDFI Fund to help fuel our work. Learn more about patient capital, the Business Equity Initiative for Diverse Developers, environmental justice efforts and more in this story.
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