Edward Gormbley Successfully Aligns his Personal Values and Business Goals with Real Estate Investment Company Workforce Partners
In episode one of the Real Estate Roundup, Managing Partner Eric Bernheim interviewed Edward Gormbley, founder of Workforce Partners LLC, a vertically integrated real estate company focused on impact investing. Over the last decade, Workforce Partners has acquired roughly 40 buildings, primarily workforce housing assets. The company also owns two hotels, and while hospitality is not its core asset class, these acquisitions were aligned with the company’s investment criteria.
Ed’s personal story reads like a Rocky movie: local Norwalk, CT, young man grows up in “not-so-good” housing, goes off to college and graduate school, gains business experience and then moves back to his hometown to establish a real estate company, Workforce Partners, focused on improving the conditions of workforce housing.
What is striking about Ed’s story is his ability to marry his personal values and business goals to create a company that not only yields returns to his investors, but also devises creative solutions to provide honest hardworking people with respectable places to live. His properties are well maintained, and he also incorporates portfolio-wide improvements of all kinds including environmental, such as converting oil to gas heating, installing LED lights and putting all lights on timers. He shared a story about a thank you note he received from a tenant of a multi-family building that he transformed from a gang-tagged property with needles on the ground to a clean, well-kept building where kids can run and play safely.
Also of note is Ed’s drive to give back to the community through direct giving. He donates to many local charities and provides scholarships to students attending Fairfield College Preparatory School, his alma mater, and he has also leveraged his network to purchase and distribute masks at the beginning of the pandemic. He encourages his employees to give back by providing them with 20-hours per year of volunteer time.
To learn more about Ed and Workforce Partners, we encourage you to listen to episode one of the Real Estate Roundup.