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 of supporting businesses like Vicente’s, with a demonstrated record of success and a commitment to create local jobs in their construction and operation. We are proud to partner with them.”

“Vicente’s, a growing family-owned business, enriches the community with cultural, affordable foods — a perfect LEAF partner,” said LEAF Senior Loan Officer Alan Singer.

Vicente’s Supermarkets has a long history of working with community-based financing entities and institutions to bring much-needed food access to low- to moderate-income communities. Nectar Community Investments, as its legacy organization Mill Cities Community Investments, provided loan capital for Vicente’s third supermarket as well. Vicente’s estimates the New Bedford store will create about 30 construction jobs through 10 contractors, seven of which are owned by professionals of color. Once the store opens, Vicente’s expects to create 51 permanent jobs in the community.

“We’re grateful to Nectar, The Boston Foundation and LEAF for supporting our new store,” said Vicente’s Supermarkets General Manager Jason Barbosa. “Our goal at every Vicente’s store is to make our customers feel at home, and we’re excited to bring that approach to New Bedford.”

Founded in the early 2000s by Manuel Vicente, Vicente’s Supermarket is a family-owned and operated community-based grocery chain. The store often sources its produce through collaboration with World Farmers, a cooperative that supports several hundred immigrant farmers and is a grantee of the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture’s (MDAR’s) Massachusetts Food Ventures program. Between the first three stores — two in Brockton and one in Pawtucket — Vicente’s employs and has created more than 250 jobs in underserved communities.

About Nectar Community Investments 

Nectar Community Investments is a certified CDFI and CDC that provides flexible growth capital, technical assistance and strategic advisory services to small business owners and homeowners in historically disinvested communities. Our purpose is to build generational wealth to close the racial wealth gap. With our robust advice, resourced networks and capital investment, we aim to grow sustainable, thriving and diverse communities driven by equal access and opportunity. Established in 2022 through the merger of Mill Cities Community Investments and the Foundation for Business Equity, Nectar has provided $29.7 million in small business and residential loans, supporting more than 500 businesses and nearly 1,000 homeowners. 

About The Boston Foundation

The Boston Foundation is one of the nation’s first and most impactful community foundations. Partnering with community members, donors, the public sector, businesses and nonprofits, we exist to close the gaps caused by our city’s greatest disparities, to advance economic justice, and to help build a better Boston. We collect data, commission research, share knowledge, develop dynamic programs, fuel new ideas, and fund change. Our work informs public policy, catalyzes conversations, and advocates not only for change but also for repairing the historical harms of inequity. Ultimately, we aim to support, contribute to and create well-being and opportunity within our communities. 

About LEAF

LEAF is a nonprofit community loan fund for cooperatives and underserved small businesses cultivating ownership and enriching communities. To learn more, visit https://leaffund.org/.