A contract does not substitute for equity or debt, but it can perform a capital-like function — making future revenue predictable enough to organize people, systems, and assets around it.This is the twelfth paper in IIBD's Community Wealth Infrastructure series and the second in its applied phase. It applies the series architecture to markets, examining procurement as ownership infrastructure.Part of the Community Wealth Infrastructure Series (Working Paper No. 12), published by IIBD.Suggested citation: Williams, R., & Dillon, D. (2026). Contracts are capital: How public and anchor procurement can build enterprise ownership and community wealth (Community Wealth Infrastructure Series, Working Paper No. 12). IIBD.