Q1: Tell us about your business, how you got started, what you do, etc. Tres Islas is a 26-year-old restaurant group that manages three restaurants in Boston—our first location, Merengue, then Vejigantes and Doña Habana. We began in 1994 with Merengue as a four-table restaurant with 20 seats and we’ve continued to expand from there. In 2001, we expanded Merengue to 100 seats, and then opened the other restaurants in 2012 and 2016. Doña Habana is the first Latino-owned restaurant inside a hotel in Massachusetts.
Hector came to the United States from the Dominican Republic when he was 26 years old. Nivia graduated from Brandeis University with a degree in biochemistry. After marrying Hector, Nivia joined the restaurant business where they now work together.
Q2: What was your experience with financial inequity? We had a hard time accessing capital and this was one of the biggest strengths of participating in the Foundation for Business Equity’s Business Equity Initiative (BEI) program, along with our Strategic Advisor. The Foundation for Business Equity is a game changer for small minority businesses in the inner city. When Merengue first expanded, we participated in different federal programs designed to help small businesses but they lacked access to capital. The absence of capital is very important to any business and the Foundation for Business Equity has changed this.
Q3: How did you come in contact with Foundation for Business Equity (FBE)? We catered FBE events for other businesses as they completed the BEI program and saw its real impact. We met Glynn, FBE’s Executive Director and the team running the BEI program. They knew our business and offered to see if they could help us. When we heard the testimonials from the participating businesses, getting involved with this program interested us even more. It offers everything for a small business to put itself in a different position for funding and growth.
Q4: What were you able to accomplish together? Our effort through the Foundation for Business Equity’s BEI program completely revamped our way of working. Our Strategic Advisor helped us navigate what the industry standards are for pricing and labor costs. We put in place a new POS system that gave us a breakdown of every minute of our work to hold us accountable. We can access centralized reports from anywhere to evaluate areas including payroll, labor costs, and the cost of goods. Having this structure for our organization opened doors for us, and our Strategic Advisor came extremely well-versed and provided a macro view of our business and the restaurant sector. This all gave us more confidence to run our business.
The FBE offered the help we needed administratively and organizationally. We had gotten to where we were able to get to because we had a good product but now we’re better organized administratively and we rely upon our financial statements to back up what we’re saying. This was a pivotal moment for us.
We have been able to endure during the pandemic, and apply for loans and grants to support our business, because of the ways the Foundation for Business Equity helped us navigate our business model. Using the parameters we put in place, we knew how we could operate to make a profit even during difficult times. We have applied everything we learned and with the Foundation for Business Equity’s help, we have been better able to respond to the pandemic and produce quickly.
Q5: What do you have to say to other business owners especially now? Take advantage of these programs. We also try to give back in the ways that we can – delivering food packages to the elderly, buying overflow produce from a nonprofit group. Keeping our business open and providing a job for our employees is also important.
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.
