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.

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.

As Black Business Month comes to a close, we are celebrating the impact of our supplier diversity initiative with Abbott. Through the partnership, we connect business owners with the financial resources and advice they need to win contracts, hire more staff and fuel economic opportunity in the communities where they operate. To date, the LISC-Abbott initiative has invested $6.2 million in 19 small businesses and provided one-on-one coaching to 37 small businesses. Meet three of them.

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.

By Lisa Glover, LISC CEO

In a new blog, LISC CEO Lisa Glover takes a closer look at LISC’s innovative collaboration with Abbott to fuel diverse suppliers in the healthcare field—supporting inclusive gains in jobs, health and family incomes as well. “All told, the program is a pro-growth, pro-equity model for small business financing that is designed to have a long-term impact well beyond the work being done today,” she writes.

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.

With an initial commitment of $5 million and combined contributions from other corporate donors, JP Morgan Chase has launched a new program to address barriers to opportunity for under-represented businesses, helping bridge financial gaps for Black and Hispanic owners.