Month: March 2024

MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 7, 2024 /3BL/ – FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) today announced the upcoming launch of its 12th annual Small Business Grants Program, which will award more than $230,000 in grants and services to ten (10) U.S.- based small businesses. The application period will begin at 12pm (noon) ET on March 1, 2024, and close at 12pm (noon) ET on April 1, 2024. After a judging period, the ten grant recipients will be announced on May 16, 2024. Qualifying businesses can submit their applications and review program rules at fedex.com/smallbusinessgrants.

“Small businesses are a driving force in the success of our economy. They’re also giving back to their local communities and we’re proud to provide this opportunity to fuel their contributions,” said Aimee DiCicco, Senior Vice President Integrated Marketing and Retail Channel Commercial, FedEx. “Since 2012, FedEx has been helping small business owners achieve their dreams by growing and expanding their ventures through our grants program, and we are excited to see who will receive grants this year.”

One 2024 FedEx Small Business Grant grand prize recipient will receive $50,000 and nine additional recipients will each receive $20,000, in addition to a $500 FedEx Office print credit, a $300 voucher from My FedEx Rewards, and access to FedEx Premier Customer Service. All recipients will also receive a sustainable packaging consult from the FedEx Packaging Lab, a digital consult from the FedEx Digital Sales Solutions team, an invite to attend a Small Business Strategic Insights Forum, and a feature on the FedEx Small Business Center.

The grant recipients won’t be the only ones going home with prizes. Up to 100 additional businesses will receive a $300 voucher from My FedEx Rewards.

The 2024 FedEx Small Business Grants Program is open to U.S.-based FedEx customers who are for-profit small businesses, have 1-99 employees, have been in operations selling a product or service for six months or more and have opened a FedEx account prior to September 1, 2023, and currently ship with FedEx. To apply, applicants must visit fedex.com/smallbusinessgrants and enter their business information (including their FedEx shipping account number), write a short profile about their business, provide how they would use the grant to enhance their business, provide their experience with FedEx and upload up to four photos of their business or product, including their logo. Applicants will also be required to submit a short video about them as a small business owner and their experience with FedEx. Following a judging period, recipients will be announced May 16, 2024, at fedex.com/smallbusinessgrants.

The 2023 program attracted over 8,200 entrants from across the United States. Over the past eleven years, nearly 77,000 businesses have applied in the United States alone. Over that eleven-year span, a total of more than $2 million in cash & prizes has been distributed to more than 120 businesses.

Video: Cut Canvas Creative/Kip Evans

The clock is ticking: half of the Earth’s coral reefs and 85% of shellfish reefs have been lost to date.1

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Mary Kay Inc. are urgently working together to protect and restore some of the remaining reefs.

Mary Kay and TNC’s partnership blossomed in 1987 and spanned over more than three decades totaling 100 conservation projects supported by Mary Kay all around the globe. The focus of Mary Kay has been to invest in nature-based solutions that help safeguard our lands and waters for future generations by tacking climate change challenges and biodiversity loss. Mary Kay is a proud supporter and advocate of TNC’s Super Reefs initiative, a collaborative effort to discover the secrets of these aptly named “super reefs” and help coral reefs persist in a warming world.

Did you know? 

As part as its mission to conserve the Earth’s land and water, TNC aims to conserve 4 billion hectares of ocean by 2030 including coral reefs.

TNC has already made great strides in advancing the Super Reefs work:

TNC recently completed the initial assessments of Super Reef areas with greatest potential for conservation achievements. Based on a variety of ecological factors, scientists have identified a potential Super Reef location including high biodiversity and presence of corals that have recovered from heat stress. Current areas of interest for super reefs include Hawaii, Palau, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, and Belize.Supporting community-led conservation is critical to how TNC approaches conservation. Coral reefs provide both natural and socioeconomic benefits as coastal communities around the world are dependent on their health. The potential Super Reef sites identified are vital for both biodiversity and the social and economic wellbeing of indigenous people inhabiting the islands.

This game-changing work is already having an impact locally in Palau and on the volcanic islands and coral atolls of Micronesia and Polynesia where the Super Reefs program helps communities and governments build resilience and adapt to local and global changes.

What is next in 2024? 

TNC is now set to move to the next phase of work including collecting data for the hydrodynamic modeling enabling researchers to predict oceanographic conditions conducive to the thriving of super reefs such as temperature and flow. The data will be shared with local communities so that they can provide feedback and input the shaping and outcome of the initiative.

Once the models are complete, TNC’s partners from Stanford University will conduct coral heat stress tests to validate the Super Reef sites, after which TNC will begin working with local communities, partners, and stakeholders to improve the management of these Super Reef sites to ensure the Super Reefs continue to survive and reseed adjacent areas—with the long-term goal of scaling solutions globally.

“Mary Kay Ash, our iconic founder, believed that there are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. We are honored to join forces with the first type of people to develop the tools and resources needed to protect our oceans for generations to come,” said Deborah Gibbins, Chief Operating Officer, Mary Kay Inc.

For the most recent updates on Mary Kay’s global sustainability strategy and the latest report, click here.

1The Nature Conservancy, 2023 Annual Report, The Making of a Million. Retrieved from: https://www.flipsnack.com/F98E67AA9F7/the-making-of-a-million-2023-texas-annual-report/full-view.html