The Dorchester Bay Small Business Assistance Center will close out March with three new loans. Dorchester Bay loaned $116,000 in U.S. Small Business Administration startup and growth capital to local businesses. The investments will help to create more than 60 living wage jobs accessible to residents of Dorchester and surrounding neighborhoods.
Democracy Brewing
In a deal that will help to create more than forty living wage jobs, Dorchester Bay lent startup capital to Democracy Brewing, the first worker-owned brewery in Boston. In addition to earning living wages, Democracy Brewery employees will have the potential to become employee-owners as members of the cooperative after one year of employment.
Dorchester Bay partnered with the Fairmount Job Referral Network to support Democracy Brewing’s hiring efforts by hosting a recruitment event. More than sixty people registered for the recruitment event held at Democracy Brewing’s headquarters in downtown Boston. Of the job seekers that attended the recruitment event, 68% are from the Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, and Hyde Park neighborhoods of Boston.
The Fairmount Job Referral Network is partnering with the New England Center for Arts & Technology (NECAT) to conduct an additional recruitment event for Democracy Brewing to recruit recent graduates of NECAT’s Culinary Arts Job Training program.
Stone & Skillet
Dorchester Bay lent growth capital to artisan muffin producer Stone & Skillet. The investment will fund Stone & Skillett’s expansion and create more than twenty new jobs in Dorchester.
New orders from national retailers including Whole Foods, Stop & Shop, Wegmans, and Krogers are fueling the expansion, and Stone & Skillet’s production at the Dorchester Bay Bornstein & Pearl Food Production Center is expected to grow from 50,000 muffins per week to 300,000 per week by summer 2018.
Ivyee’s Honey/Longwood Company, LLC
Local honey-producer Ivyee’s Honey received a loan from the Dorchester Bay Neighborhood Loan Fund. Ivyee’s Honey sources organic, all-natural honey from its company-owned bee farm in Jamaica. The company produces hair and skin care products that sourced from all-natural ingredients and minerals. Ivyee’s Honey distributes its products to more than twenty wholesale stores across Massachusetts.
