Square Roots Collective sparks change

KENNETT SQUARE — Mike Bontrager is a game changer.

“Money is the fuel of creativity and entrepreneurship,” Bontrager said. “We care more about the impact that is created and feel like money is the wrong metric for showing impact. Impact is only in part a function of money. People and collaboration are also fuel that helps create impact.”

In 1991 he founded Chatham Financial, a financial risk management consulting and technology firm, which today employs more than 800 employees and operates 14 office locations worldwide.

Yet Bontrager saw wealth as an asset bigger than dollars and cents. His vision embodied a calling for the greater good — to create social change, through impact, at home. Around 2018, he founded Square Roots Collective.

“In an age of division nationally, I felt strongly that collaborative action at the local level offered the highest potential for transcending differences to holistically strengthen communities,” Bontrager said.

Square Roots Collective seeks to connect all residents with opportunities to experience the benefits of community life and progress, empower healthy communities to thrive, develop friendships and partnerships across socioeconomic, political and vocational lines, and foster a holistic mindset of success for local stakeholders.

“We are animated by bringing neighbors and institutions together with the hope of collectively solving systemic challenges. Community collaboration can be messy,” Bontrager said. Still, “it’s also incredibly rewarding.”

His daughter, Stephanie Almanza, has taken on some leadership reins for Square Roots Collective. Today, she is president and real estate lead for its social enterprise, Square Roots Community Initiative.

From left, Square Roots Collective team members Luke Zubrod, Stephanie Almanza and RuthAnn Deveney celebrate the power of social impact in the Kennett community on Jan. 17 at the Creamery. (JEN SAMUEL – FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP)

According to Almanza, Square Roots Collective began as a sustainable model for community development in which for-profit initiatives, like the Creamery, several real estate holdings, and Artelo Hotel, are owned by Square Roots Community Initiative, which reinvests 100% of its profits to benefit the community.

The Creamery launched its permanent operations at 401 Birch St. in 2018. Owned by Square Roots Community Initiative, an enterprise of Square Roots Collective, 100% of the venue’s proceeds are donated to support local charitable causes and nonprofit organizations. (COURTESY SQUARE ROOTS COLLECTIVE)

Almanza said when people patronize the Creamery and Artelo, she hopes they have a great experience and feel good knowing they are supporting the community.

“We hope to demonstrate that the combination of thoughtful economic development and purposeful investment in the community results in a virtuous cycle that continues to strengthen our region,” Almanza said.

“We tell people that when you buy a beer at the Creamery, you help build a trail, or house a family, or support a fellow resident in need,” said Luke Zubrod, Square Roots Collective chief of staff.

Square Roots Community Initiative exists, he said, as a social well-being entity in which its revenues, generated from its for-profit businesses, directly benefits the greater Kennett community.

In 2024, Square Roots donated $281,677 to local charitable causes spanning $204,000 for neighborhood improvements and infrastructure advancements, $45,000 for human services, and $32,677 for community initiatives. Recipients included Kennett Trails Alliance, Anson B. Nixon Park, Kennett Township, United Way of Southern Chester County, Family Promise of Southern Chester County, Voices Underground, Civic Trust, Lincoln University Foundation, Kennett Collaborative, Good Samaritan Services and Casa Guanajuato.

Since its formation in 2021, Square Roots Collective Initiative has contributed $545,000 to local nonprofits.

Yet the giving doesn’t stop there. Zubrod said affiliated nonprofits of Square Roots Collective have made significant contributions to community projects, including $800,000 to design and construct Cypress Beach Park; and $500,000 to pave trails connecting the following community assets: KAU athletic fields, Anson B. Nixon Park, YMCA, Cypress Beach park, the borough outdoor pool; and, located west of the borough, Pennock Park and Parrish Trail.

Square Roots Collective founded Kennett Trails Alliance and co-founded –  along with Longwood Gardens and Lincoln University – Voices Underground. And long before the formation of Square Roots Collective, Bontrager co-founded Kennett Garage Youth Center, which is now run independently.

Last weekend, the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce named Bontrager as Outstanding Citizen of the Year.

Square Roots Collective launched the Square Roots Community Initiative which takes funds earned from for-profit businesses, like the Creamery, and donates fund to nonprofits in the Kennett area. Square Roots Collective also supports local happenings beyond fiscal donations through fostering friendships, relationships and difference makers in support of achieving social impact wins for all. (COURTESY SQUARE ROOTS COLLECTIVE)

Zubrod said Kennett Square Roots has also worked with grants consultants to raise funding for key community improvements including the new Kennett Square police station via a $2 million grant; and a separate $2 million grant for Birch Street Streetscape. He added that the collective has committed $250,000 toward plantings and other beautification elements of the streetscape.

Next up, Zubrod said Square Roots Collective plans to open an eight-room boutique hotel on Union, near Cypress, in Kennett Square this fall.

Besides the Creamery and Artelo Hotel, both located on Birch Street, the collective has leased commercial space to Hank’s Place at the corner of Birch and Broad streets. Hanks Place is expected to relocate, and once it does, there are plans to renovate the space for a new restaurant.

Noteworthy, as part of its Main Street Matters program, the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development awarded a $1 million grant to Square Roots Community Initiative. The funds will support structural stabilization of a long-vacant 1902 building, which is behind the Creamery.

The front entry into The Creamery on Birch Street is open to guests Thursday through Sunday. (JEN SAMUEL – FOR MEDIANEWS GROUP)

According to Zubrod, this grant will lay the groundwork for bringing the historic building — once an integral part of Kennett’s industrial and agricultural heritage — back to the future.

“The generosity to which Mike Bontrager and his wonderful team at Square Roots Collective continue to share with Kennett Square and the surrounding area never ceases to amaze me. They have placed their assets including the Creamery and numerous other properties and operating businesses into a nonprofit whose purpose is benefiting the Kennett community,” said Bob Norris, Kennett Square Borough Council president.

“They have given so much to improve the quality of life and inclusivity of those who live in and enjoy spending time in Kennett Square,” Norris added.

“Square Roots Collective is investing in a new model of community improvement,”  Zubrod said. “The hallmarks of the model are community imagination and collaboration to advance the common good. We are using hospitality and real estate businesses like the Creamery and Artelo as platforms for improving community well-being.”