LISC + Lowe’s: A COVID Response That Buoyed 2,782 Small Businesses

Over the past 10 months, a $55 million commitment from Lowe’s enabled LISC to deploy emergency relief and resiliency grants to nearly 2,782 small businesses, mostly minority- and woman-owned enterprises, inclusing 55 in the Phoenix-area like Palabras Bilingal Bookstore. That translates into thousands of livelihoods, jobs and business ecosystems still intact through the economic fallout of the pandemic. A portion of the overall funding went to business development orgnaizations like Phoenix Local Organanizing Committee. These groups have held the hands of entrepreneurs through this harrowing time and continue to provide the coaching and support they need to weather the pandemic and emerge savvier and more resilient.

LISC + Lowe’s: A COVID Response That Buoyed 2,782 Small Businesses

In the frightening early days of America’s COVID-19 lockdown last spring, it became instantly clear to us that small businesses risked being decimated by the pandemic’s financial fallout. And that risk was much higher for entrepreneurs of color, woman-owned businesses, and small enterprises operating in under-resourced communities—so many of whom have historically been cut off from mainstream sources of capital and have little or no financial padding to keep going if revenue starts to plummet.

LISC saw this crisis coming, and so did Lowe’s Home Improvement, who joined us in partnership to fund and disburse an unprecedented number of grants to small businesses across the country—in record time. Because there was no time to lose.

This month marks the culmination of that extraordinary early phase of our collaboration: together, in just 10 months, we awarded $55 million in grants to 2,782 small businesses in communities across the country. Eighty nine percent of grants went to minority-owned business, 67 percent are woman-owned, and 67 percent are located in under-resourced communities.

“A Heart for Responding to Challenges” and a Commitment to Small Business Recovery: Q&A with Janice Dupré of Lowe’s

Janice Dupré is executive vice president of human resources for Lowe’s. In the interview that follows, she talks about what motivated Lowe’s to make its extraordinary $55 million commitment for small business relief grants, and she describes why the company intentionally prioritized small businesses that face barriers to capital access, including those located in rural communities and led by diverse owners, including women.

In a remarkable move, Lowe’s stepped up to contribute $55 million to LISC’s small business relief effort—the largest single donation to our COVID-19 relief and resiliency fund. What led to that bold commitment, and what were you hoping to achieve?

Small businesses are the cornerstone of our economy, and they reflect who we are as Americans. When they struggle or fail, it has a ripple effect throughout the communities where our associates and our customers live and work. We knew many small businesses were not going to survive the pandemic if they couldn’t get help.

We also realized something as we began discussing how to respond. Most small business owners don’t have the option to access capital, no matter how successful they may be. So, it just made sense that we should try to help people who don’t have the same opportunities that we do.

These grants are also part of the way we connect the dots between our business and our philanthropic priorities, whether we’re supporting affordable housing, disaster relief or employment skills training. Small businesses are an important part of that ecosystem of well-being and we just felt compelled to act.