Dorchester Food Co-op in Boston

Dorchester Food Co-op (DFC) is a hybrid worker-consumer cooperative grocery store that has been working since 2011 to bring affordable healthy food and economic development to Dorchester, an underserved area of Boston and the city’s largest neighborhood. Initially, DFC needed financial and technical assistance to launch its co-op enterprise.

With support from the Small Business Technical Assistance Grant Program, nonprofit organizations like the Cooperative Fund of the Northeast (CFNE) can help small businesses by providing training in business skills such as accounting, marketing, technical assistance, and access to financing.

CFNE’s lending team worked with DFC and provided 50% of the requested loan up front, and conditioned disbursal of the other 50% on the grocery store, adding 150 new local members and matching the investment with commitments from other funders. By December 31, 2021, DFC met CFNE’s loan conditions, adding 291 members and raising additional financing toward their capital campaign.

DFC later broke ground on a new building, creating full-time jobs for community residents and growing its 2,000-plus member-owner base.