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NourishDC fund managers tell Council $1M a year is needed to sustain food‑business program
Summary
Capital Impact Partners and food‑business representatives told the oversight hearing the NourishDC program, managed by a CDFI, would end without a $1 million annual city contract; witnesses said the city investment leverages federal grants and private philanthropy.
Allison Powers, director of economic opportunities at Capital Impact Partners, described NourishDC as a collaborative of CDFIs and technical assistance providers that has used $4.5 million of DMPED support since 2021 to leverage roughly $3.3 million in private funding and deploy over $22 million to local food businesses. She told the committee NourishDC needs a $1 million annual contract with DMPED to continue operating and to attract private philanthropy: "We are requesting $1,000,000 annually in the budget to continue programming and be able to attract private funding," Powers said.
Al Goldberg, founder of the Mess Hall incubator, and other food‑business witnesses described concrete benefits: equipment grants, cold‑storage support, and USDA‑sourced Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grants that flowed to businesses because the NourishDC structure existed. They said the program helped seed projects that in turn drew federal grants. DMPED staff acknowledged NourishDC’s leverage and said the office would follow up on budgetary options and contract pathways; committee members asked DMPED to clarify how continued city contracting could preserve the program’s intellectual property and maintain its leveraging effect.
