Creating Financial Ecosystems for CWB
October 4, 2026
Photo via Unsplash/Yuval Yehudar
In Boston, a mom-and-pop shop has begun a new chapter under employee ownership. Impact investors and local government have not only made it possible, but shown how Community Wealth Building financial ecosystems are becoming a popular wealth creation solution in communities across the U.S., Marjorie Kelly writes.
As Community Wealth Building (CWB) takes hold around the globe — spreading the model of communities having direct ownership and control of their assets — community-focused finance is playing an increasingly significant role in reaching scale. In the low-income neighborhood of Roxbury, in the Boston area, the recent move of Tropical Foods grocery to employee ownership — made possible by impact investor capital and local government support — shows how a local CWB financial ecosystem is being successfully developed.
One key player in the ecosystem is Apis & Heritage Capital Partners, an investing fund targeted exclusively at advancing worker ownership, with a focus on benefiting frontline workers and workers of color. A&H provided the financing to transition Tropical Foods — also known as El Platanero — from third generation family ownership to its workers, making roughly 100 workers the new owners. The store’s offerings are crafted to serve the neighborhood’s African, Caribbean, and Latin American immigrant communities, making the community another beneficiary of keeping this store locally rooted.
“As we considered the future of the business, it was important to find a partner who would honor our history, invest in our employees, and continue serving our community,” the co-owner of Tropical Foods, Ronn Garry Jr., told the press. “Becoming 100% employee-owned was important to me and my brother, and we’re proud of what this means for wealth building in Roxbury.”
A&H is, in turn, supported by impact investors, that community of investors seeking both financial return and positive social impact. A&H’s first fund, launched in 2021, amassed $58 million in capital. Its second fund has $250 million in assets under management. All of that capital is directed at converting firms to long-term worker ownership. The fund’s eight current holdings include firms in construction, landscaping, plant nursery, janitorial services, and water and sewer repair. These firms now reach more than 1,500 workers, 64 percent of them workers of color, and 96 percent low- and moderate-income workers. Already $1.2 million in new wealth has been created for these workers.
A&H has also created a strategic financing partnership with Calvert Impact, a 30-year old firm that is one of the nation’s oldest impact investing firms. All with the aim of accelerating the growth of employee ownership via A&H’s second fund. Only accredited (high net worth and institutional) investors can invest in A&H, but small retail investors can invest with a minimum of $20 in Calvert Impact Community Investment Notes.
The nonprofit workforce training partner for Tropical Foods will be the Democracy at Work Institute, working to help develop an ownership culture at the store, to make the most of the benefits of worker-ownership for both workers and management.
The Tropical Foods store operates on land shared with Madison Park Development Corp., a community development corporation in Roxbury — another player in this financial CWB ecosystem. Still other players are the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts, which own the parcel of land beneath the store, which is the long-term tenant. Further local community development is in the works by Madison Park, which plans to work with Tropical Foods on a mixed-use development, known as 2085 Washington Street, funded in part by the city of Boston, which will include community and space and 80 affordable housing units.
It takes a community to build community wealth. In the case of Tropical Foods, the worker ownership structure preserves a long-established retailer, as it changes who benefits from wealth creation. For Apis & Heritage, this is its first investment in Boston, and the fund plans to pursue additional employee ownership opportunities there.