“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.
Your grant supported businesses throughout the country, but you also made sure to focus on rural communities. What motivated that intentionality about rural investment?
A lot of our stores are in rural communities; our customers and our associates are part of the fabric of these small towns. Being able to support them is important because we become integral parts of the communities we do business in.
When small businesses are devastated in rural communities…when jobs are lost and people don’t have a place to shop…the surrounding community suffers as well. Often, rural communities don’t have the same density of businesses as urban communities, so losses are felt even more deeply.
It also gets back to that idea of connecting the dots. When we first launched our partnership with LISC, we were also doing work to help areas hit by national disasters, including parts of Louisiana, Texas, Iowa and California. We saw the extent to which rural areas were disproportionately impacted and how hard it was for them to access capital. We saw the same patterns begin to repeat throughout pandemic. There was so much need across the country, but fewer resources dedicated to rural areas.
This is also personal for us. Marvin [Ellison, President and CEO of Lowe’s] grew up in a small town and has a big heart for rural communities. I was born in a rural area too, and other members of our leadership also have connections to that way of life. We also have a significant number of stores and specialty services in rural areas. It made sense to prioritize rural communities in our philanthropy, just as we have in our business. Although our grants supported urban areas, we were intentional to ensure rural small businesses were recipients, as well.
Lowe’s also prioritized grants for businesses led by people of color and women. Why was that so important?
Urban or rural, these are businesses that have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. They also have more limited access to capital, even in strong economic periods. So, it’s a fundamental question of equity; we wanted to help minority-led businesses access opportunities that might not otherwise be available.
We also wanted to demonstrate how diversity and inclusion can be woven into every aspect of the ecosystem of our company. So, [that means] bringing in diverse suppliers as part of our merchandising. It’s supporting diversity in our Track to the Trades mentoring program so entrepreneurs can build the skills they need to start their own businesses. And it’s helping them hang onto their certifications, so they can keep contracts during the pandemic and beyond. It’s not an event. It isn’t situational. It’s a strategy. Our small business grants are part of that strategy, part of that ecosystem.
The last of the Lowe’s small business grants have now been disbursed. At the end of this campaign, what do you take away from the experience? What comes next?
The feedback from businessowners and community leaders has been remarkable. We’ve learned a lot about what people need, how it fits within our wider philanthropic efforts and what it means for our business services.
We’ve also seen the value of investing in organizations like LISC. When we decided that we wanted to do this, we didn’t know how to do it. I’ve done philanthropic campaigns for different organizations, but the scale of this was like nothing we had ever done before. Big corporations can’t always get down to nuts and bolts when it comes to programs like this. LISC helped realize our desire to get close to grantees.
We are operators, and we wanted to help these businesses quickly. I think that sense of urgency helped LISC too, because together we developed the systems needed to move quickly. For Lowe’s and LISC, our hearts were aligned on getting this done as quickly as possible.
I think our model demonstrates possibility for other companies, too. Even in uncertain circumstances, when you are solutions-oriented and have a heart for responding to challenges, you can find the answer. We didn’t know how to do this, but in about two weeks, we had it up and running. We’re proud that our partnership with LISC has given nearly 2,800 small businesses a lifeline during a very difficult time and, we hope, optimism for a brighter future.