Press Release Details

Entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to build their businesses through Tuck Diversity Business Programs

QUINCY, Mass., March 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Retail Business Services, the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, announced it will offer scholarships for 20 National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) certified, Black-owned suppliers to enroll in upcoming Tuck Diversity Business Programs, an executive education opportunity for entrepreneurs.

The list of current suppliers to Ahold Delhaize USA companies receiving Tuck scholarships includes:

• Myles Powell, Owner, 8 Myles
• Olowo-n’djo Tchala, Founder and CEO, Alaffia
• Larry Lee, President, Andy’s Seasoning, Inc.
• Eric Johnson, President, Baldwin Richardson Foods Co.
• Rochelle Graham-Campbell, CEO, Black Onyx World (Alikay Naturals)
• Bernard Bronner, President, Bronner Bros, Inc.
• Warren Brown, CEO, Countertop Productions (Don’t Forget Cake)
• Dr. Kenston J. Griffin, Founder, Dream Builders Communication
• Eddie Hipp, CEO, Ed Hipp's Beef Provisions, Inc.
• Andre Allen, Owner, Fifththeory, LLC.
• Jeffrey Kyle, President, K-Chemicals
• Tracey Richardson, Owner, Lillie’s of Charleston, LLC.
• Denise Woodard, CEO, Partake Foods, Inc.
• Lashonda Crockett, CEO, Pennie’s Teas
• Kareem Cook, Prevention, LLC. (Naturade)
• Charlene Sessoms, Partner, Refocus
• Claude Booker, Founder, Simply Southern Sides (Soul Food Starters)
• Thomas Tyree, President, TWT Distributing
• Albert Ndjee, CEO, Ultimate Seasonings, LLC
• Catherine Hughes, Chair, Urban One

For 40 years, the team at Tuck has partnered with organizations like Retail Business Services to deliver high-impact business education programs that support the growth of participants and their companies. Programs at Tuck focus on helping participants realize the full potential of their value, with many of the participating entrepreneurs able to make immediate improvements to their business. Scholarships will cover costs for recipients to enroll in a program based on the size and needs of their business. Program options include:

• Building a Successful Diverse Business – Focused on core business tools for new owners who need to build a strong foundation of business knowledge and learn how to gain competitive advantage in their value chains.
• Growing an Established Diverse Business – For participants in established businesses to accelerate their growth and evaluate their future growth alternatives: organic growth, strategic alliances, or acquisitions.

Retail Business Services recently joined NMSDC as a corporate member and looks forward to continuing to extend this partnership as the company enhances its supplier diversity program.

These donations are part of a previous $5 million commitment to support racial equality that Retail Business Services made in collaboration with other Ahold Delhaize USA companies in June 2020. As part of that commitment, the companies of Ahold Delhaize USA are continuing to work with associates and community partners to support education, advocacy and business development within the Black and African American community. 

About Retail Business Services
Retail Business Services, LLC, is the services company of Ahold Delhaize USA, currently providing services to five East Coast grocery brands, including Food Lion, The GIANT Company, Giant Food, Hannaford and Stop & Shop. Retail Business Services leverages the scale of the local brands to drive synergies and provides industry-leading expertise, insights and analytics to local brands to support their strategies with services including Information Technology, Pharmacy Services, Not for Resale, Store Services, Financial Services, Legal Services, Communications, Supply Chain and People Systems and Services. For more information, visit www.retailbusinessservices.com.

About Tuck Diversity Business Programs
For four decades, the Tuck Diversity Business Programs have delivered high-impact business education for entrepreneurs through executive education programs online and on the Dartmouth campus in Hanover, NH, and through outreach programs in all 50 states. The first of their kind, the programs build on the top faculty and superb education for which Tuck is famous, carefully customizing executive programs to meet the unique needs of underrepresented entrepreneurs and business owners who are people of color, Native American, women, veterans of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, LGBTQI+, and/or disabled. For more information, please visit http://www.dbp.tuck.dartmouth.edu/ or contact Emmanuel Ajavon at Tuck.Diversity.Programs@tuck.dartmouth.edu.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Christy Phillips-Brown
704-310-2221

Erin DeWaters
704-310-3884