May 6, 2021 (Arlington, VA) – Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser awarded Capital Impact Partners $1 million to manage the newly announced Nourish D.C. Fund. This fund, part of the $5.2 million D.C. LEAF program, aims to support a robust ecosystem of locally owned food businesses in District neighborhoods by investing in businesses that otherwise struggle to access capital and also promotes health in the city.
“We invest in local businesses because they are the backbone of our economy, they are trusted and valued community partners, and they represent the dreams and aspirations of our residents,” said Mayor Bowser. “We are proud to support entrepreneurs that step up to help us build our economy, and these LEAF grants represent a $5 million investment in our D.C. values.”
Through the Nourish D.C. Fund, Capital Impact will work with a coordinated collaboration of technical assistance providers and lenders with deep roots in the District. The goal is to foster a food system that provides economic opportunities and access to healthy and affordable food.
Capital Impact and partners will leverage this $1 million award to attract an additional $2 million to the fund, expanding its ability to support District food businesses including:
- Deploying at least $3 million of financing
- Supporting food entrepreneurs’ success with robust technical assistance
- Awarding at least $200,000 of catalytic grants
- Launching the first Food Policy Innovation Award
“Food systems are critical to the health of communities, and to their economic prospects. Food businesses provide opportunities for improved health and wealth building for many people in the District. Now is the time to expand those opportunities to earn a good wage, work with dignity, and pass down wealth to the next generation, and the Nourish D.C. Fund is an excellent catalyst for that vision for all D.C. residents,” said Ellis Carr, president and CEO of Capital Impact Partners and CEO of CDC Small Business Finance.
Through the Nourish D.C. Fund, Capital Impact will work with a number of key partners including Dreaming Out Loud (DOL), EatsPlace, the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), and the Washington Area Community Investment Fund (Wacif).
The Fund also represents another effort by Capital Impact and CDC Small Business Finance, which recently joined their operations and launched a transformative new enterprise to innovate how capital and investments flow into communities. Washington, D.C. is a pilot area of operations along with Detroit and Los Angeles.
“We are proud to be part of the Nourish D.C Fund. The combination of our small business lending expertise alongside Capital Impact’s longtime local community development work will help us drive greater change within D.C. communities. This effort showcases the magnified impact we are capable of through our new enterprise with Capital Impact and our joint commitment to supporting the D.C. community and beyond,” said CDC Small Business Finance’s Chief External Affairs Officer Robert Villarreal.
How Nourish D.C. Will Invest in Local Food Entrepreneurs
Nourish D.C. will increase technical assistance, provide catalytic grants, and lending products to enterprises throughout the District, with a focus on businesses which have encountered barriers to accessing the technical assistance and capital needed to grow and thrive.
These ranges will allow the Nourish D.C. Fund to meet the needs of food enterprises across the value chain (i.e. from small-batch processing where needs might be smaller to retail grocery where needs might be larger) and across life cycles of a business (i.e. from start-up where needs might be smaller to expansion where needs might be larger). Technical assistance delivery models may include one-on-one consulting; short-format seminars/webinars; access to a kitchen incubator; mentoring; and multi-day, cohort-based intensive training.
Through these tools, Nourish D.C. will increase entrepreneurs’ business acumen and capital readiness and will complement other District programs providing grants and resources such as the Neighborhood Prosperity Fund (NPF), the Great Streets Program, and the D.C. Capital Connector.
Creating an Ecosystem of Impact
D.C. LEAF incorporates three separate programs to support local entrepreneurs including: the Neighborhood Prosperity Fund, the Nourish DC Fund, and the Locally Made Manufacturing Grant Program.
A number of graduates of Capital Impact’ Partners’ EDI program were named as awardees during this announcement:
- Thomas Houston’s Medici Road, Inc. received a $500,000 Neighborhood Prosperity Fund Grant for his development at 4726 Sheriff Road, NE, which includes a community operated grocery store, coworking offices, and headquarters for Medici Road.
- Babatunde Oloyede’s Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, Inc. received a $300,000 Neighborhood Prosperity Fund Grant for the development of the Prosperity HUB. This project consists of a community culinary kitchen including catering and event space, retail Grab-N-Go Café, market, and makerspace showroom, and a small business incubator and service center with optional back-office support services.
- D.C. Central Kitchen, Inc., which is being supported by graduates Diarra and Alexis McKinney of Rosewood Strategies, received a $340,000 Neighborhood Prosperity Fund Grant for the development of a 36,000 sq. ft. commercial facility on Buzzard Point that will play a catalytic role in the completion and opening of a retail café, production kitchen, and related office space.
To learn more about these funds and programs, read the D.C. government press release.
Capital Impact’s Long-standing Investments in the Washington Metro Area
Capital Impact has extensive experience supporting businesses that improve local food systems, including more than ten years of experience managing good food funds in California and Michigan. Our food systems work has been specifically designed to build and support communities in need of healthy, affordable food and economic opportunities. Initiatives we have supported include the Michigan Good Food Fund, the California Freshworks Fund, the California Community Grocers Fund, and the DMV Good Food Fund Innovative Response Fund.
In addition to supporting local businesses, Capital Impact has played an integral role in expanding and preserving affordable housing in Washington, D.C. as the fund manager of the DHCD Preservation Fund. First selected to manage the fund in 2018, Capital Impact has leveraged funding from the D.C. government to deploy low-cost and flexible financing to private nonprofit and mission-driven for-profit developers that are working with D.C. residents to preserve their housing. A unique aspect of the fund is how it supports the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). TOPA gives residents of for-sale, multifamily, residential properties the right of first refusal to buy their properties, allowing them to work with mission-driven developers to purchase the buildings, maintaining affordable rents.
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About Capital Impact Partners
Capital Impact Partners, part of the Momentus Capital branded family of organizations, is transforming how capital and investments flow into communities to provide people with access to the capital and opportunities they deserve. As one of the nation’s leading mission-driven Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs), we help build strong communities and create generational wealth by deploying mission-driven financing, capacity-building programs, and impact investing opportunities.
Capital Impact Partners offers flexible financing for catalytic mission-aligned projects in four primary sectors: increasing access to health care, education, affordable housing, and healthy food.
In addition, we manage several multi-year initiatives in key regions to support emerging developers, small business owners, cooperatives, and community health enterprises through training, professional networks, access to experts and mentors, and pathways to grants and loan capital.
Capital Impact Partners has disbursed more than $3 billion since 1982 to create access to critical social services, grow entrepreneurs, and create quality jobs. Capital Impact Partners’ leadership in delivering financial and social impact has resulted in the organization being rated by S&P Global and Fitch Ratings and recognized by Aeris for its performance.
The Momentus Capital branded family of organizations refers to the combined operations of Capital Impact Partners and CDC Small Business Finance, as well as their affiliates, Momentus Direct Capital and Momentus Securities (an SEC-registered broker-dealer, MSRB-registered, FINRA/SIPC member). While each organization under the Momentus Capital brand still operates as a separate entity, their clients will now have access to more resources and products.
With headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, and San Diego, California, Momentus Capital operates nationally with a focus on larger urban areas and cities in Arizona, California, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Texas, and the Washington D.C. metro area.
Learn more at capitalimpact.org and momentuscap.org.
