Boston, Massachusetts

Boston, MA

Updated August 2017

As the largest city in New England, and one of its oldest, Boston has long been the region's economic and cultural hub. According to 2016 Census Bureau estimates, the city’s population is over 673,000. While still lower than its peak of 800,000 in 1950, Boston has been steadily growing since 1980 and the Greater Boston region is home to over 4.7 million people – making it the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the country.

The city's population is 47 percent white American, 24 percent African American, 18 percent Hispanic American, and 9 percent Asian American. People of Irish and Italian ancestry comprise about one quarter of the city (16 percent and 8 percent respectively), while people of West Indian ancestry are the third largest group with 6 percent of the city's population. Among the nation's 50 most populated cities, Boston ranks fifth in the percentage of adults identifying themselves as gay, lesbian, or bisexual (12.3 percent).

According to a 2017 Boston Planning and Development Agency research report, the city’s economy grew by 3.6 percent between 2014 and 2015 (higher than the U.S. economy as a whole, which experienced just 2.6 percent growth). Annual job growth has also outpaced state and national averages and unemployment is just 3.5 percent, the lowest it has been since 2000.

Despite these positive trends, poverty remains a significant challenge, with over one-fifth (22 percent) of all city residents living below the poverty line, a rate well above the national and state averages (16 and 12 percent). Moreover, reports suggest that poverty is especially high among the city’s minority populations. Reflecting this, a 2016 Brookings Institute analysis ranked Boston as the city with the greatest income inequality in the nation, with its top five percent earning $266,224 a year compared to its bottom 20 percent earning just $14,925.

Working to address these stark disparities are a range of community wealth building organizations. The city is home to numerous CDCS including, for instance, Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, which has developed more than 1,110 units of affordable housing as well as commercial space that includes a $14.5 million shared kitchen space credited with creating 120 jobs. CDFIs are also playing an important role. For example, Boston Community Capital has loaned more than $1 billion to efforts credited with preventing more than 800 foreclosure-related evictions, renovating 2 million square feet of real estate, building or preserving nearly 20,000 units of affordable housing, and creating 4,440 living-wage jobs.

The city is also home to dozens of cooperatives and organizations focused on supporting cooperative enterprises. One such organization, the ICA Group, has helped start more than 30 cooperatives and social enterprises, and has converted dozens of companies to worker ownership, saving or creating over 10,000 jobs. Recognizing that cooperative enterprises could reduce economic inequality, the City of Boston launched its Worker Cooperative Initiative, an effort that offers on-site technical assistance, small business loans, and general workshops to help support and grow Boston’s worker-owned businesses.

An overview of community wealth building efforts follows:

Anchor Institutions

Boston Foundation

http://www.tbf.org

Founded in 1915, the Boston Foundation is a community foundation with $1 billion in assets. Committed to building and sustaining a prosperous city and region characterized by justice and opportunity, the foundation focuses on making grants that address critical community challenges, partnering with donors and other funders to achieve high-impact philanthropy, and serving as a civic hub from which information, ideas, and agendas can be developed and shared. The foundation awards about $16 million in grants on an annual basis to efforts focused on five impact areas: Education, Health & Wellness, Jobs & Economic Development, Neighborhoods & Housing, and Arts & Culture. To respond quickly to community needs, the foundation also has an Action Fund that provides grants of up to $10,000 to grassroots organizations.

Community Development Corporations (CDCs)

Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation

http://www.allstonbrightoncdc.org

Formed in 1980, Allston-Brighton Community Development Corporation (ABCDC) leads neighborhood initiatives aimed at building affordable housing, creating green space, nurturing resident leadership, and improving economic self-sufficiency in the Allston-Brighton community of Boston. The group has been a state leader in individual development accounts, founding and leading the MIDAS (Massachusetts IDAs) Collaborative comprised of IDA programs across the state. Since its founding, ABCDC has developed more than 500 units of affordable housing and helped nearly 1,600 people buy their first homes.

Asian Community Development Corporation

http://www.asiancdc.org

Established in 1988, the Asian Community Development Corporation was formed to address the lack of affordable housing options for Asian immigrants and other low-income families. With a focus on preserving and revitalizing Boston’s Chinatown community, the group has developed more than 400 affordable housing units. It also offers homeownership workshops and one-on-one counseling in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese, and has a matched savings program to encourage first-time home ownership that provides a $1 match for every dollar saved. Also focused on leadership development, the CDC runs a year-long leadership program for low-income youth from Boston and urban Asian American communities in the metropolitan area.

Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation

http://www.csndc.com

Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation aims to build a cohesive and resilient community in Codman Square and South Dorchester. To do so, the CDC focuses on developing affordable housing and commercial spaces that are safe and sustainable and on promoting economic stability for low and moderate income residents. Since its founding in the 1970s, the CDC has developed 1,400 housing units, including 500 within a ½ mile radius of the Fairmount Commuter Rail Line. The CDC is considered a leader in promoting the creation of vibrant, transit-oriented urban villages where residents have access to public transportation, jobs, and supportive services. To support area small businesses, in 2015 Codman Square launched its Dot Biz program, which, in its first year, provided 22 enterprises with the technical assistance needed to ensure long-term sustainability, job creation, and growth.

Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation

http://www.dbedc.org

Founded in 1979 by local civic groups, Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation works to create economic development opportunities and construct affordable housing options for the diverse communities in Boston and Dorchester neighborhoods. To date, the group has developed more than 1,110 units of affordable housing, including two housing cooperatives. The CDC has also developed 164,260 square feet of commercial space, which includes a $14.5 million shared kitchen space credited with creating 120 jobs. Its Economic Development Program has made more than 215 loans, creating or retaining more than 1,000 jobs.

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI)

http://www.dsni.org

Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI), formed in 1984, is a community-based planning and organizing group in the low-income Dudley area of Roxbury, Boston, home to 24,000 residents. To ensure community control, DSNI is governed by a 35-member Board of Directors, which includes 18 adult residents and 4 youth, and provides equal representation to the community’s four major cultures: African American, Cape Verdean, Latino, and White. The nonprofit works closely with Dudley Neighbors Incorporated (DNI), the community land trust it formed in 1988 to develop the neighborhood’s comprehensive plan. DSNI currently has three strategic focuses: community empowerment, sustainable economic development, and youth opportunities/development.

Fenway Community Development Corporation

http://www.fenwaycdc.org

Established in 1973, Fenway Community Development Corporation focuses on ensuring Boston’s Fenway neighborhood is economically vibrant, culturally diverse, and holistically healthy. Its work is guided by its Urban Village Plan, a resident-driven vision for the area developed in 1992 and updated several times (most recently in 2015) that includes 5 goals: 1) a sufficient and varied housing supply, 2) access to public transportation and reduced vehicle traffic, 3) community-building facilities, 4) a healthy business community with employment opportunities, and 5) open space and a responsible level of impact upon the environment. The CDC’s programs are credited with developing over 600 affordable homes, preserving affordable housing through grassroots organizing, and providing a range of social services to over 1,000 resident a year.

Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción

http://www.iba-etc.org

Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción aims to empower people to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, arts programs, and education. Catalyzed in 1968 by South End residents who fought to avoid displacement, the CDC now develops affordable housing and provides supportive programming focused on improving the knowledge, life skills, and health of the 818 residents living in its developments. Since its establishment, the CDC has created more than 1,000 affordable housing units and has helped create the only gallery in New England exclusively dedicated to promoting local, national, and international Latino artists.

Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation

http://www.jpndc.org

Founded in 1977, Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation (JPNDC) aims to ensure low-income Jamaica Plain and adjacent neighborhood residents can access affordable homes, paths to prosperity, and real leadership. Its work is credited with developing 630 affordable homes, securing over $11 million in financing to support over 80 local small businesses, and connecting more than 1,500 resident to jobs, education, and training. In 2009, the nonprofit restored an empty, neglected brewery into The Brewery Small Business Complex, a project it now manages. The Brewery currently houses 50 small businesses, half of which are owned by women or people of color, that employee about 500 people. Revenues from the Brewery enable JPNDC to provide community programming free of charge.

Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH)

http://www.noahcdc.org

Serving East Boston since 1987, the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH) started as a two-person organization operating from the basement of a church and has evolved into a multi-service non-profit credited with driving over $352 million of investments into the Greater Boston region. To date, NOAH has developed or rehabilitated 382 units in 66 buildings, assisted over 650 families to purchase their first home, and redeveloped six school yards, a four and a half acre waterfront “Urban Wild” park, and a youth-run community garden. The CDC now owns 265 affordable rental units and three commercial units in over 20 locations across the Boston region.

Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation

http://www.nuestracdc.org

Founded in 1981 by residents of the Dudley Neighborhood, Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation works to build community wealth and enhance the physical, economic, and social well-being of Roxbury and other underserved areas in greater Boston by developing affordable housing, increasing local economic development, encouraging individual asset-building, and improving housing security and stability. To date, Nuestra Comunidad has developed nearly 800 units of affordable rental and 200 units of for-sale housing, trained over 2,000 people in homeownership, and helped more than 500 families purchase first homes.

Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation

http://www.swbcdc.org

Formed in 2001 by concerned residents, Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation aims to build and sustain a thriving, economically and racially diverse community in Hyde Park and Roslindale by preventing displacement, developing and preserving affordable housing, strengthening neighborhood commercial areas, fostering accessible transit and green space, and nurturing local leadership. The CDC is currently developing the first new affordable housing project for families in Hyde Park in nearly 25 years, which will include 27 sustainably designed rental apartments, green space, an outdoor play area, and a community room. To provide area youth with job skills and training while promoting environmental stewardship, the CDC established its Green Team program which has engaged over 125 youth since 2009.

Urban Edge CDC

http://www.urbanedge.org

Founded in the 1970s by the Ecumenical Social Action Committee to expand its homeownership counseling and housing rehabilitation work, Urban Edge is a minority-controlled and minority-led nonprofit community development organization aiming to develop and sustain stable, healthy and diverse communities in Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and surrounding Boston neighborhoods. To date, the CDC’s work is credited with developing or preserving nearly 1,500 units of affordable housing. Valuing “green development,” Urban Edge has created green development standards that it follows to ensure its real estate projects create high-quality living environments, promote healthy lifestyles, and reduce their impact on environmental resources. In 2016 alone, its homeownership workshops educated 863 people, 167 of whom became first time homeowners. The CDC also provided tax preparation support to 628 families, returning $1.4 million to the local economy.

Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs)

Boston Community Capital

http://www.bostoncommunitycapital.org

Founded in 1984, Boston Community Capital (BCC) is one of the most innovative and successful community development financial institutions in the nation. To date, it has lent more than $1 billion and leveraged $6 billion in additional investment. Its investments are credited with preventing more than 800 foreclosure-related evictions, renovating 2 million square feet of real estate, building or preserving nearly 20,000 units of affordable housing, and creating 4,440 living-wage jobs. BCC is also one of the largest solar providers to affordable housing in the country—its financing has helped to generate 26.5 million kilowatts of solar capacity, saving customers millions in energy costs.

Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation

http://www.cedac.org

Based in Boston, the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC) is a quasi-public community development finance institution that provides financial resources and technical assistance to Massachusetts nonprofit community development organizations in support of affordable housing, workforce development, childcare, and education. In 2016, it provided over $15 million in predevelopment, acquisition, and bridge lending to area nonprofits. Since its establishment in 1978, CEDAC’s work is credited with stimulating the production or preservation of 45,000 housing units and producing more than 16,240 units of supportive housing.

Housing Partnership Network

http://www.housingpartnership.net

Based in Boston, the Housing Partnership Network is a business alliance of the nation’s top performing nonprofit development organizations, allowing them to share the innovations from each organization’s local practices and leverage their resources more efficiently. One of its enterprises - the Housing Partnership Fund - is a CDFI-certified lending institution that has provided over $88.5 million in capital to 52 Network members. Another enterprise, the Housing Partnership Insurance, is the first captive insurance company owned by and operated for nonprofit affordable housing organizations. The company insures more than 75,000 units valued at over $10.5 billion, and, since 2008, has returned $10.2 million in dividends to its owner-members.

Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF)

http://leaffund.org

The Local Enterprise Assistance Fund (LEAF) aims to promote human and economic development by providing financing and development assistance to cooperatives and social purpose ventures that create and save jobs for low-income people. To date, LEAF has invested and leveraged over $106 million, resulting in the creation or retention of more than 7,800 jobs. The CDFI is just one of three in the U.S. with a focus on supporting cooperative enterprises.

Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation

http://www.mhic.com

Founded in 1990 by a consortium of banks and other corporate investors, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC) is non-profit, certified CDFI focused on financing affordable housing and community development across New England. To date, it has raised $2.5 billion from 139 institutional investors for its Low Income Housing Tax Credit program and has received 11 awards totaling $807 million for its New Markets Tax Credit program. In 2014, MHIC partnered with the Conservation Law Foundation to launch the Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund, a $30 million fund aiming to support mixed-use, mixed-income projects that will positively transform neighborhoods, strengthen community and environmental health, and promote regional equity while providing returns to investors.

Community Land Trusts (CLTs)

Dudley Neighbors Incorporated (DNI)

http://www.dudleyneighbors.org

Founded by the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative (DSNI) to implement and develop DSNI’s comprehensive master plan, Dudley Neighbors Incorporated (DNI) is a community land trust that controls 30 acres of formerly vacant, blighted land in the Dudley Triangle. The land now houses a community greenhouse, an urban farm, 225 affordable homes (including two cooperative housing projects), commercial buildings with retail and office space, a playground, and gardens.

Cooperatives (Co-ops)

Boston Center for Community Ownership

http://bcco.coop

Founded in 2012, Boston Center for Community Ownership (BCCO) is a cooperative enterprise that provides training and consulting on a sliding scale basis to cooperatives and other organizations within the solidarity economy. Most recently, BCCO has been supporting the launch of Américas Autoclinik, a worker-owned auto repair and maintenance business.

Boston Cooperative Investment Club

https://sites.google.com/site/boscoopinvestclub

Boston Cooperative Investment Club is aiming to redefine investment by offering its members a way to invest in cooperatives and organizations that support cooperatives. Members contribute $50 to $200 per month into a pooled fund, and the group collectively makes investment decisions. Since its formation in 2015, the club has invested in five Boston-area cooperatives.

Harvest Co-op Markets

http://www.harvestcoop.com

Founded in 1971, Harvest Co-op Markets is a member-owned cooperative with two stores and 4,000 member-owners in the greater Boston area. The co-op supports organic and sustainable agriculture, local farmers and food producers, and fair trade businesses. Unlike many co-ops that give a discount at the point of sale, Harvest returns a rebate based on any profit annually, enabling a more sustainable financial model for the co-op.

Cross-Sectoral

Boston Ujima Project

https://www.ujimaboston.com

Taking its name from the Swahili Kwanzaa principle for “collective work and responsibility,” the Boston Ujima Project is working to organize Greater Boston area neighbors, workers, business owners, and investors to create a community-controlled economy. Specific strategies it seeks to employ include the creation of a “Good Business and Real Estate” certification, a community controlled investment fund, a worker empowerment network, and an alternative local currency. In the summer of 2016, the group held its first Ujima Solidarity Summit, at which over 175 people pooled over $20,000 to invest in five black and immigrant-owned local businesses.

Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs)

Boston Common Asset Management

http://www.bostoncommonasset.com

Formed in 2002, Boston Common Asset Management is a woman-led, employee-owned, certified B Corporation seeking sustainable, long-term capital appreciation through investments in high quality and socially responsibly enterprises. Committed to sustainability, the firm offsets its annual carbon emissions by supporting sustainable reforestation in South America and runs a composting program credited with diverting more than 150 gallons of waste from the garbage stream. The firm manages approximately $2.2 billion in assets and has 48 employee-owners.

Shawmut Design & Construction

http://www.shawmut.com

Founded in 1982 by Jim Ansara and a handful of employees, Shawmut Design and Construction is now an entirely employee-owned national construction management firm with headquarters in Boston, seven additional offices across the country, and over 1,000 employee-owners. In 2015, Shawmut’s revenues reached nearly $1.2 billion. The firm has won 43 regional “Best Place to Work” awards, and in 2016, received the honor nationally when Fortune Magazine named the firm as one of the nation’s 100 Best Workplaces.

Green Economy

Cooperative Energy Recycling and Organics (CERO)

http://www.cero.coop

Launched in 2012, Cooperative Energy Recycling and Organics (CERO) is a worker-owned commercial composting cooperative aiming to keep food waste out of landfills, help its customers save money, and provide good, green jobs to Boston residents. To date, CERO has diverted more than 3.3 million pounds of food waste from area landfills.

Groundwork Somerville

http://www.groundworksomerville.org

Modeled after successful Groundwork organizations in the United Kingdom and an affiliate of Groundwork USA, a network of organizations established by the National Park Service, Groundwork Somerville is a community-based organization committed to “changing places and changing lives” through on-the-ground projects that transform local communities and empower residents. The nonprofit runs a range of youth programs that provide environmental education, leadership development, and service opportunities, including its Green Team, a job program that enables area youth to develop tangible skills while working for positive social and environmental change. Groundwork also runs Somerville’s first urban farm, which provides the healthy, fresh produce it donates to local food pantries and sells through its 8 mobile farmer’s markets.

Hospitals

Partners HealthCare

http://www.partners.org

Founded in 1994 by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Partners HealthCare employs 6,000 physicians working across 9 hospitals, 5 community health centers, and numerous home care and other health-related facilities. To ensure community residents can access employment opportunities that offer family-sustaining wages, benefits, and opportunities for advancement, Partners has several workforce development programs. To date, its health care training program has graduated 571 adult community residents, and its youth-focused programs employ more than 450 youth on an annual basis. Aiming to procure goods and services from more diverse suppliers, in 2004 Partners launched a Supplier Diversity Program, which now includes over 3,000 certified/categorized Historically Underserved Businesses.

Impact Investing

Boston Impact Initiative

http://bostonimpact.com

Founded in 2013, Boston Impact Initiative invests in Eastern Massachusetts-based enterprises that are committed to its “triple bottom line”: economic justice, community resilience, and enterprise health. It relies on a range of integrated capital tools, including loans, credit enhancements, equity investments, royalty finance, direct public offerings, crowdfunding and grants, and provides support to both for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations working to ensure the economy is more just, sustainable, and inclusive.

Walden Asset Managment

http://www.waldenassetmgmt.com

Founded in 1975, Walden provides portfolio management services to socially responsive investors. To support healthy, inclusive communities, Walden offers clients an opportunity to invest in community development institutions, banks, and credit unions that support economic development and affordable housing. It also partners with its clients to encourage portfolio companies to strengthen their corporate responsibility and accountability through shareholder engagement, which includes dialogue, shareholder resolutions, and proxy voting. As of 2016, Walden had approximately $2.8 billion in assets under management. Since 2004, Walden has been a division of Boston Trust & Investment Management Company, an employee-owned firm.

Individual Wealth Building

ICA Group

http://ica-group.org

ICA Group aims to expand economic opportunity and self-determination by supporting initiatives that empower workers, build community assets, and root capital locally through employee ownership. Since its founding in Boston in the late 1970s by a group eager to replicate Mondragon’s cooperative model, ICA has helped start more than 30 cooperatives and social enterprises and convert dozens of companies to worker ownership, saving or creating over 10,000 jobs. In 2007, ICA formed the Alternative Staffing Alliance, a network of over 50 social-purpose staffing agencies that now connect over 30,000 people with barriers to employment to job opportunities and supportive services on an annual basis.

The Midas Collaborative

http://midascollab.org

Launched in 1999 by the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation with just 4 members, The Midas Collaborative is now a statewide network of 30 organizations committed to advancing the financial security of low and moderate income Massachusetts residents. To do so, the Collaborative runs a range of asset-building programs, which it complements with policy work focused on stabilizing income, reducing expenses for the working poor, ensuring consumer financial protections, and protecting assets. In 2016, Midas’ matched savings program supported 1,536 low and moderate income people, who saved over $1.9 million and earned $2.6 million in matches.

Local Food Systems

City Growers

https://citygrowers.wordpress.com

City Growers transforms vacant Boston lots into economically and environmentally sustainable urban farms that create livable wage employment opportunities for Boston residents. They also increase access to affordable, healthy food, and contribute to greater food security. The for-profit venture currently operates four Boston sites and generates revenues by selling produce to a range of local restaurants and small grocers.

The Food Project

http://www.thefoodproject.org

Striving to increase food security through creating sustainable, local food systems, The Food Project grows nearly a quarter-million pounds of organic food each year, which is then donated to area hunger relief organizations or sold through Community Supported Agriculture crop "shares" and at farmer markets in low-income neighborhoods. Aiming to bring together youth and adults from diverse backgrounds to build a sustainable food system, the nonprofit engages over 120 teens and thousands of volunteers on an annual basis. In Boston, The Food Project grows on plots in the city’s Dudley neighborhood and operates DSNI’s 10,000-square-foot greenhouse, which also functions as a community space and year-round learning center.

New State & Local Policies

Boston Worker Cooperative Initiative

https://www.boston.gov/economic-development/employee-ownership-help

The Boston Worker Cooperative Initiative aims to reduce economic inequality and help Boston residents build wealth by supporting cooperatives and other worker-owned businesses. Tools to boost and grow worker-owned businesses include on-site technical assistance, small business loans, and general workshops to introduce entrepreneurs and businesses to cooperative models. To help promote existing worker-owned businesses in the Greater Boston area, the City created an online, interactive map as well as charts broken down by key industries/sectors highlighting Boston employee-owned businesses.

Social Enterprise

Boston Building Resources

http://www.bbmc.com

Boston Building Resources (BBR) is a social enterprise focused on providing affordable solutions that help area residents create stronger communities while benefiting the environment. The effort includes two components: 1) a consumer co-op (formerly called Boston Building Materials Co-op) that sells new home improvement materials and has a special focus on energy-saving, green products; and 2) a nonprofit Reuse Center, where people can donate new and gently used building materials for resale. In 2016, BBR received donations from nearly 1,700 people, diverting materials valued at more than $2 million from local landfills. Also focused on education, in 2016 BBR conducted 40 home improvement workshops.

Pine Street Inn’s iCater

http://www.pinestreetinn.org

Founded in 1969, Pine Street Inn provides homeless individuals with shelter, services, and the means to become self-sufficient. The nonprofit serves more than 1,900 homeless individuals on a daily basis and over 9,000 annually. Launched in 2000, iCater is Pine Street’s social enterprise aiming to provide training opportunities to Pine Street clients while generating revenues for its job training programs, which support about 140 people transitioning from homelessness to self-sufficiency a year.

Project Place

http://projectplace.org

Established in 1967, Project Place is a nonprofit that helps individuals achieve employment, shelter, and hope for the future. To enable clients to develop job skills while earning a regular paycheck, Project Place runs four social enterprises: a facility maintenance business, a vending machine services business, a food services and catering enterprise, and an enterprise providing business services for people making specialty products. In 2015, the nonprofit’s social enterprises employed nearly 100 clients and generated one-fifth of Project Place’s operating budget.

State & Local Investments

Mass Ventures

http://www.mtdc.com

Based in Boston, Mass Ventures is a quasi-public venture capital firm aiming to grow Massachusetts’ innovation economy by funding early-stage, high-growth startups transitioning from concept to commercialization. Since its establishment in 1978, Mass Ventures-supported companies have raised more than $1 billion in additional capital, creating jobs for over 7,500 Massachusetts residents and generating an estimated annual payroll of $229 million.

Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations

http://www.macdc.org

Based in Boston, the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations (MACDC) is a statewide association of mission-driven community development organizations focused on building and sustaining a high performing and adaptive community development sector. MACDC members all work towards numeric, collective goals, which MACDC measures on a yearly basis and reports on in an annual report quantifying its members’ achievements. Since its founding in 1982, MACDC members have developed over 25,000 homes and attracted several billion dollars in investments to low and moderate income communities. In 2016 alone, its members built or preserved 1,643 homes, created or retained 5,285 jobs, and helped local entrepreneurs secure more than $44.1 million in financing.

Transit-Oriented Development

Fairmont Indigo CDC Collaborative

http://fairmountcollaborative.org

Fairmont Indigo CDC Collaborative was established in 2004 by several CDCs within the “Fairmount Corridor” to redevelop vacant, distressed properties near transit stations into new housing, vibrant businesses, and open space. The Collaborative is currently focused on nurturing sustainable development around the Fairmont/Indigo line, an area the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has committed $200 million towards in order to improve transit service, alleviate congestion, and create new stations. To date, the project is credited with creating new, energy efficient transit-accessible homes for 1,600 low- and moderate-income residents, developing 120,000 square feet of commercial space, and generating nearly 800 jobs.

Worker Cooperatives

Dollars & Sense

http://www.dollarsandsense.org

Founded in 1974, Dollars & Sense is a non-hierarchical, collectively-run nonprofit organization that publishes economic news and analysis. Its publications, which include a bi-monthly magazine and economic books, cover issues that are ignored by mainstream media, misunderstood by orthodox analysts, question the assumptions of traditional theories, and empower people to think about alternatives to the prevailing system. The nonprofit also provides research and editorial support to educational institutions and other nonprofits on projects related to popular economics education, organizing, and activism.

Great Sky Solar

http://greatskysolar.com/

Great Sky Solar is Boston’s only worker-owned solar installation company. The firm is also a social benefit corporation, meaning that it has three bottom lines: people, profit, and planet. It installs on both residential and commercial properties and is committed to using American-made materials that exceed environmental, safety, and labor standards.

Placetailor

http://www.placetailor.com

Placetailor is a design, building, and development company committed to constructing high performance, energy-efficient buildings. Completed projects range from custom, energy-efficient, urban homes to multi-family urban infill developments. Currently in design is Mayflower Flats, which will be the first all-timber, Passive House-certified midrise construction on the East Coast.

Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston

http://www.proarte.org

Founded in 1978, Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston aims to perform an innovative mix of classical and new music while reaching out to the community. It is one of only four cooperative orchestras in the country, meaning that the conductor as well as its musicians decide what music to perform. Through its Back to Classical program, its members provide free music lessons and concert tickets to inner-city students, many of whom have severe financial needs and/or learning disabilities. The orchestra also provides more than 2,000 free and significantly discounted tickets on an annual basis to low-income, at-risk, disabled, and/or elderly individuals.

Red Sun Press

http://redsunpress.com

Founded in 1973 by activists aspiring to create a full-service print shop that would support the movement for political and social change, Red Sun Press is a worker-owned union shop providing printing and graphic design services with a focus on serving nonprofits, socially responsible businesses, and government agencies that share its commitment to promoting a just and equitable society. The cooperative also aims to be eco-friendly, relying on vegetable-based inks, offering high-recycled content paper, recycling its own paper and metal printing plates, and donating usable waste paper and out-of-date sample books to local schools and daycare centers.

Worker-Owned and Run Cooperative Network of Greater Boston (WORC’N)

https://worcn.org

Founded in 2002 to facilitate connections between existing co-ops, educate the public about the cooperative model, and encourage the creation of new worker-owned co-ops, the Worker-Owned and Run Cooperative Network of Greater Boston (WORC’N) is a network of worker-owned cooperatives, co-op developers, and those seeking to start new worker cooperatives. The group now regularly runs Co-op 101 workshops, Peer Resource Groups, and social events.

Boston, Massachusetts

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