Celebrating Small Businesses: Fresh Food Generation
Fresh Food Generation is a farm-to-plate Caribbean American restaurant located in Dorchester, MA, and BEI Cohort V graduate. With locally sourced ingredients through partnerships with the Urban Farming Institute and others, co-owners Cassandria Campbell and Jackson Renshaw bring quick, healthy, and delicious meals to the community. Food Generation’s business operations span six different business lines, including a food truck, grocery boxes, catering events, local and national home delivery, and a local brick-and-mortar restaurant as of November 2021.
Fresh Food Generation’s growth was stalled during the pandemic as they focused on making ends meet. Their main goals with the BEI Kendall Grant were to continue building out the retail/restaurant space and hiring additional staff to run and grow the business smoothly. After utilizing the funds from the BEI Henry P. Kendall Foundation Grant, Fresh Food Generation increased sales by 15% but, more importantly, stabilized the business. A permanent location and kitchen made work-life less chaotic and challenging for the staff and noticeably increased employee satisfaction. The hiring efforts also doubled the team of 7-8 employees to 14, adding more drivers and grocery packers.
We’re excited to grow our team and welcome a thoughtful, mission-driven leader into the role of Small Business Lending Director. This newly created position plays a key role in our next phase of growth, leading day-to-day lending operations, managing portfolio performance, and expanding access to capital for small businesses across Massachusetts and Rhode Island. If you’re passionate about supporting entrepreneurs, strengthening local economies, and advancing financial equity, we’d love to hear from you.
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The Nectar Community Investments residential team recently attended the 2025 MassEnergize Conference, which proved to be a thoughtful and impactful event full of advocacy, connection, and shared commitment to climate action at the community level. Residential Services Director Lissette Paukert spoke on a panel about funding residential decarbonization, joining representatives from Mass Save, the Community Climate Bank and Abode to talk about ways we can make energy efficiency upgrades more accessible and affordable for Massachusetts residents. Here are a few of her insights from the conversation.
What are the biggest challenges Nectar clients face in pursuing decarbonization projects?
These days, we see some fear of financial uncertainty and a lack of trust in the energy industry due to aggressive, predatory-like marketing behaviors. That’s also due to divisiveness and misinformation in our current environment, including whether climate change is real and if decarbonization efforts even matter. When you have limited cash flow, you invest carefully in products that are going to last and not cause issues. There needs to be clear and truthful messaging around the impact of decarbonization, from both an economic and environmental perspective. Not only do homeowners need education, but it’s just as important that the contractors and all professionals …
A big thank you to everyone who joined us for Nectar’s official launch in Rhode Island. We’re thrilled to be working in the Ocean State, and engaging with the entrepreneurs, ecosystem partners and other attendees at the event boosted our sense of excitement and community.
Since our founding in Massachusetts in 2008, we’ve made it our mission to invest in community and build generational wealth. We’re continuing that commitment in Rhode Island — today, tomorrow and well into the future. This launch event was only the beginning! We’re looking forward to working together, supporting dedicated small business owners, and collaborating with ecosystem partners to build on their successful efforts throughout the state.
