Al Enchill, President & Owner of Elegant Stitches Inc., located in Pittsfield, MA shares the impact of the advisory services his family business has received through the COVID-19 Response Support Team.
October 2020 Personal Message by Al Enchill, President & Owner of Elegant Stitches Inc.
I want to extend my sincerest gratitude. Our business is incredibly thankful for the opportunities that have arisen from our relationship. Elegant Stitches has made the necessary pivots to address the losses incurred by the COVID-19 outbreak. This includes:
Securing our Minority-Owned Certification and 8a Certification for the government sector.
Meeting the demands of our existing and potential customer base by acquiring new equipment.
Analyzing with the assistance of our advisors (David Roache, Response Team Advisor and Kara Shurmantine, The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, MBA Student ) our cost, pricing and margins, and developing an outbound business development program and the tools to enable us to target the corporate, small business and government sectors. In the process, we have been minimizing financial losses, and beginning again to increase our revenues.
We are sincerely grateful for the funds and most importantly the support that David, our Response Team Advisor, has extended to us since we received the loan through the Business Equity COVID-19 Emergency Fund (BECEF). David’s contribution is indeed immeasurable. We wouldn’t be where we are without that support.
Thank you for your help. It means a lot to me and our company. Stay healthy.
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.
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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.