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08-08-17

The plantain shop that grew into a pillar of the Roxbury community

ICIC

Tropical Foods, located in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood, has been around since 1974. It was founded by Pastor Medina, an immigrant from Cuba, who originally rented a small location and sold only plantains. At the time, plantains were not widely known in the U.S., but the Hispanic clientele who shopped there took to calling the store “El Platanero,” a name some customers still use. However, Tropical Foods has grown considerably since its days as a plantain shop. Read More


08-04-17

Private Bond Market Emerging as a Tool for Inner City Community Development

ICIC

Social impact investing is increasingly being utilized by Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). However, CDFIs are often limited in how they can use the funds. The capital may be restricted to a narrow geography, or constrained to certain programmatic areas. Therefore, even with the expansion of their sources of capital to encompass social impact investing, CDFIs continue to explore new avenues for capital diversification. Read More


08-01-17

S.F. Entrepreneur Expands, Looks to Neighborhood to Fill Jobs

ICIC

Yolanda Jones gets to the office at Yolanda’s Construction Administration & Traffic Control (YCAT-C), which she founded in 2010, every day at 6 a.m. There’s a lot happening. YCAT-C has $6 million in contracts earned or lined up for this year, its biggest year so far. She’s got something in the pipeline that could add another $10 million in annual revenues and perhaps 20 more employees in the next year. And, oh, NBA star LeBron James gave Jones a shout-out recently on Facebook and Twitter. She won a small business contest he held last fall. Read More



07-26-17

WATCH: Advancing health in America’s inner cities together

ICIC

Small businesses are the engine of America’s prosperity and when they succeed, good jobs are created, economic opportunity is abundant and healthier communities are created. With this in mind, we’ve teamed up with the nation’s largest, nonprofit, integrated health care delivery system, Kaiser Permanente, to support urban businesses in Los Angeles and Oakland so our inner cities can thrive. Read More



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