FedEx Awards $120,500 to Top Ten Winners of its Sixth Annual Small Business Grant Contest
April 24 2018 - 3:58PM
Business Wire
Rumi Spice Wins Grand Prize of $25,000, Plus
$7,500 in FedEx Office Services
FedEx announced today that Rumi Spice – a Chicago-based business
that sources and brings to market premier saffron from the fields
of Afghanistan – is the grand prize winner of its sixth annual
FedEx Small Business Grant Contest. Rumi Spice will receive a
$25,000 grant, plus $7,500 in FedEx Office® print and business
services to help them continue to grow their business both in the
U.S. and internationally.
“We had many qualified entries into the FedEx Small Business
Grant Contest this year, but Rumi Spice really embodied what we
look for in a grand prize winner,” said Scott Harkins, senior vice
president, Customer Channel Marketing at FedEx. “Not only did they
see and pursue a viable business opportunity, but they have a
demonstrated passion for connecting Afghanistan to the
international marketplace. As a global company that connects people
and possibilities around the world, FedEx appreciates this and we
look forward to helping them take their business to the next
level.”
The idea for Rumi Spice was born after co-founders Kimberly
Jung, Keith Alaniz and Emily Miller, all former Army officers who
served in the military in Afghanistan, connected with international
tax attorney Carol Wang of the Afghan Rural Enterprise Development
Program. They all saw the need to provide alternatives to opium
farming and felt the only way to a sustainable future was through
economic empowerment of the Afghan people. Since 2014, when it was
founded as part of a startup program at Harvard Business School
where Kimberly and Emily were students, the company has been
working with rural Afghan farmers to grow and harvest top-quality,
sustainably-farmed saffron. More than 1,900 Afghan women then work
to hand-process the saffron during the five-week harvest season
each year. Finally, the saffron is shipped to Rumi Spice in Chicago
where it is packaged and sent to Michelin star restaurants and
consumers all over the U.S.
The Rumi team, which aims to bring people together through food,
is committed to empowering Afghan women and bolstering the Afghan
economy by reinvesting in the local community, ultimately promoting
peace and stability in this war-torn country.
“We are very excited to have been named the grand prize winner
of the 2018 FedEx Small Business Grant contest,” said Kimberly
Jung, CEO of Rumi Spice. “This grant will not only help us improve
our supply chain logistics as we transport saffron out of
Afghanistan, but it will help build a sustainable future for peace
through the economic empowerment of rural farmers across the
country.”
In addition to the grand prize, FedEx also awarded Drop Water of
Menlo Park, Calif., $15,000, plus $5,000 in FedEx Office services.
The following eight businesses received $7,500 grants and $1,000 in
FedEx Office services, as well:
- Back of the Yards Coffee (Chicago)
- Blended Designs (Jacksonville,
Fla.)
- Booze Dogs (Greenville, N.C.)
- Buckle Me Baby Coats (Londonderry,
N.H.)
- Dauntless Wine Company (Gaston,
Ore.)
- Fiddlershop.com (Pompano Beach,
Fla.)
- Locker Lifestyle (Grand Rapids,
Mich.)
- ZZZ Bears (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
“It’s an honor to award our print and business services to this
year’s FedEx Small Business Grant Contest winners,” said Tracy
Brightman, senior vice president of Human Resources and
Communications for FedEx Office. “While these entrepreneurs are a
driving force in the success of our economy, they’re also giving
back to their local communities and we’re proud to fuel their
contributions.”
The 2018 contest garnered more than 7,800 entries from
candidates across the United States and more than 660,000 votes.
Since its launch in 2013, more than 21,000 small businesses have
entered the contest in the United States alone. The contest has now
grown from one country to eleven countries and the grant pool for
the U.S. contest has grown from $50,000 to more than $120,000 in
total prizes.
FedEx. Solutions that Matter.® Helping Small
Businesses.
The FedEx portfolio of services allows small businesses to gain
access to the global marketplace and to shipping, logistics and
printing solutions. For more information on how FedEx helps small
businesses, please visit the FedEx Small Business Center at
fedex.com/smallbusiness.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses
worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and
business services. With annual revenues of $64 billion, the company
offers integrated business applications through operating companies
competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the
respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most
admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 425,000
team members to remain “absolutely, positively” focused on safety,
the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of
their customers and communities. To learn more about how FedEx
connects people and possibilities around the world, please visit
about.fedex.com.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180424006531/en/
FedEx Media RelationsGretchen Mathis,
901-434-5701gretchen.mathis@fedex.com
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