Lowe’s CEO, Marvin Ellison, announced that the home improvement company will do its part in helping reboot the American economy by allocating $25 million in grants to small businesses owned by people of color. The fund aims to assist in the re-opening of businesses owned by people of color that were affected by the COVID-19 shutdown.
“These are going to be minority businesses and other businesses that are now starting to reopen,” Ellison told CNBC’s Mad Money. “So we just want to continue to not only run a good business but also be a great corporate citizen in all of the communities that we operate in.”
Earlier this year, Lowe’s also provided a $25 million fund to aid in the fight against the pandemic in which $10 million went to providing medical frontline workers with Person Protective Equipment (PPE).
According to Black Enterprise, Ellison became CEO of Lowe’s in 2018 making him one of only four Black CEOs of a Fortune 500 company. Ellison believes in the small businesses of America and encourages the country to follow his lead in financially supporting the re-opening of the economy.
“We have to work together to get this economy going, and my message to America is: Support your local businesses, support your small businesses and let’s do our part to maintain social distancing so we can get this virus behind us as quick as possible,” he told CNBC.
