Vista, one of our businesses and a leading online provider of marketing products and services to small businesses, has founded the Save Small Business Fund in conjunction with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Vista donated $1 million to help alleviate the financial losses owners are facing as a result of COVID-19 and has been integral in securing additional partner investors.
This comes at a time when eight in 10 U.S. small businesses report being negatively impacted by COVID-19, according to Vista research. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, has a decades-long history of helping businesses and communities impacted by disaster.
“Small businesses are the soul of every community, and right now our communities are facing hardship,” says Cimpress CEO Robert Keane. “I started VistaPrint out of my apartment 25 years ago and I know firsthand how hard it is for small business owners. I have been – and continue to be – amazed by their passion, resilience and ability to persevere through change. As a champion and marketing partner for small businesses, Vista is there when the challenges hit, and we are doing all we can to help them stay in business. We are proud to be partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation to provide a lifeline during this time.”
The Fund will provide aid for small businesses in the form of one-time, supplemental $5,000 cash grants to qualifying small businesses. To be eligible, businesses must have between three and 20 employees and operate in a vulnerable community in the U.S. and its territories, as determined by the Distressed Community Index (DCI).
“Small business owners and the communities of which they are a part are facing unprecedented challenges. The needs are urgent and every dollar counts,” says Carolyn Cawley, president of the U.S. Chamber Foundation. “We hope these supplemental funds will help small employers get through the next days and weeks and on the road to recovery for their communities.”
In addition to launching the Fund, Vista rallied its engineering and manufacturing teams to optimize existing machinery, normally used for producing banners and signs, to develop a face shield product to meet the growing needs of frontline professionals working with patients impacted by COVID-19. Vista is donating 100,000 face shields to be distributed among 100 healthcare facilities in underserved, small communities. Vista is also supporting small business owners by offering critical marketing services such as products with COVID-19 messaging, an expanded suite of online marketing services and a content hub to help guide them during this time.