Quest Safety Products, a small, minority-owned distributor and maker of personal protective equipment and other safety products, has a 27-year track record of meeting customer needs. Now growth capital from the Abbott-LISC Initiative to Support Diverse Businesses in Health is helping CEO Sam Yadav realize an expansion, boosting resiliency in a supply chain that’s vital to us all.

After a student’s tragic death, former teacher Elizabeth Alegría founded Gramercy Specialty Clinic, a Texas-based behavioral healthcare organization focused on serving diverse populations and addressing mental health barriers in Latino communities. With a $150,000 investment from the Abbott-LISC Initiative to Support Diverse Businesses in Health, Alegría is expanding Gramercy’s virtual services and developing a technology app to scale the organization across several states.

Jeanette Towles founded Synterex, a clinical and regulatory consulting firm, to help life science companies deliver new therapies to patients faster. When she hit capital roadblocks as she worked to grow her business, LISC stepped in to help. Learn how $1 million in affordable capital from the Abbott-LISC Initiative to Support Diverse Businesses in Health is helping Towles develop an artificial intelligence tool that will fuel Synterex’s growth.

Houston-based Laveer Logix recently received a $260,000 working capital loan from LISC to expand its capacity to serve federal agencies and fuel growth through new contracts. The loan was supported by the Abbott-LISC Initiative to Support Diverse Businesses in Health and the LISC Entrepreneurs of Color Fund supported by JPMorganChase.

Raghu Chejarla and Susie Ruddarraju are the husband-and-wife team behind HighCloud Solutions, an IT consulting and staffing firm in St. Paul, MN. Securing more supplier contracts is central to HighCloud’s growth, but most large institutions require suppliers to have expensive certifications to do business with them. With a $125,000 zero-interest investment from the Abbott-LISC Initiative to Support Diverse Businesses in Health, HighCloud secured the accounting and cybersecurity certifications it needs to compete.

The COVID-19 pandemic and gaps in recent drug breakthroughs have highlighted the need for representation in clinical research. LISC’s supplier diversity effort is helping drive economic and healthcare equity by supporting innovative businesses behind essential technologies and products. Thanks to financing through the Abbott-LISC Initiative to Support Diverse Businesses in Health, Tranquil Clinical Research can advance efforts to center the needs of communities most impacted by disease through treatment trials, drug development, and more.

More companies are looking to increase employee retention through upskilling, retooling and fostering a culture of belonging. Entrepreneur Ibrahim Jackson wants to harness this momentum to grow his people development firm, Ubiquitous Preferred Services, but first he needs access to capital, which has long been a challenge for Black entrepreneurs. Thanks to financing through Abbott and LISC, Jackson now has the resources to create a highly effective employee e-learning platform, which will lead to more employer contracts for his business.

The economic downturn of 2008 forced retired Fortune 100 executive, Artura Taylor, back into the workforce. Instead of working for someone else, she launched her own business, TDG Scientific, to supply lab equipment, chemicals, PPE, and more to the corporate and government sectors. Like many Black business owners, Taylor found it difficult to access capital to scale her business. Thanks to financing through the Abbott-LISC Initiative to Support Diverse Businesses in Health, Taylor’s business now has the resources to invest in its IT infrastructure and grow its bid department to pursue more contracts.

A new $37.5 million initiative will empower and grow diverse small businesses that provide manufacturing and essential products for healthcare companies. The Abbott-LISC collaboration aims to break down systemic barriers to success, increase diversity, generate jobs and strengthen economies in underinvested communities.