QUINCY, Mass., Dec. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Retail Business Services, the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, today announced that the company will become a National Corporate Member of the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), joining over 400 United States corporations. In addition, Retail Business Services will be making a $100,000 donation to the NMSDC’s Business Consortium Fund Inc. (NMSDC BCF), America’s most comprehensive financing and technical support organization exclusively serving NMSDC-certified businesses.
The impact of COVID-19 on business owners has been drastic and destructive. According to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the number of active business owners in the United States quickly plummeted in the early stages of the pandemic by 3.3 million or 22 percent, with minority-owned businesses being hit especially hard. Since then, Black-owned businesses have continued to struggle, experiencing a 41 percent drop in active businesses.
Retail Business Services’ $100,000 donation to the Business Consortium Fund will be administered as low interest loans to NMSDC-certified, minority-owned businesses, with specific designation to support these Black-owned businesses significantly compromised by the pandemic.
“It is a priority to support suppliers and partners during this exceptionally difficult time, just as they have supported customers and local communities,” said Roger Wheeler, President, Retail Business Services. “Through our partnership with organizations like NMSDC, Retail Business Services is committed to uplifting minority-owned businesses as they continue to navigate today’s changing realities.”
NMSDC plays a crucial role in advancing opportunities for businesses that have been underserved by the greater lending community. Whether a small minority-owned organization or a billion-dollar enterprise, NMSDC is committed to helping solve the growing need for supplier diversity.
Retail Business Services is currently a member of four of NMSDC’s 23 regional affiliates. This new $100,000 donation to the organization comes as part of a previous $5 million commitment to support racial equality that Retail Business Services made in collaboration with other Ahold Delhaize USA companies in June. As part of that commitment, the companies of Ahold Delhaize USA are continuing to work with associates and community partners to support education, advocacy and business development within the Black and African American community.
“We hold ourselves accountable for lasting change where we work and live,” added Wheeler. “This is just one small part of our ongoing journey to support equity and inclusion.”
About Retail Business Services
Retail Business Services, LLC, is the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, currently providing services to five East Coast grocery brands, including Food Lion, The GIANT Company, Giant Food, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Retail Business Services leverages the scale of the local brands to drive synergies and provides industry-leading expertise, insights and analytics to local brands to support their strategies with services including Information Technology, Merchandising, Marketing & Sourcing Services, Private Brand Products, Pharmacy Services, Not for Resale, Store Services, Financial Services, Legal Services, Communications, Supply Chain and People Systems and Services. For more information, visit www.retailbusinessservices.com.
About Business Consortium Fund
The National Minority Supplier Development Council Business Consortium Fund, Inc. (NMSDC BCF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and a US Treasury Department certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI). For more than 30 years has remained committed to funding the capital needs of NMSDC certified minority businesses, including women of color businesses that supply goods and services to the nation’s largest corporations. NMSDC BCF is the only lending organization that is singularly focused on this national market segment. For more information, visit www.bcfcapital.com.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Christy Phillips-Brown
704-310-2221
Erin DeWaters
704-310-3884