FedEx has announced Rumi Spice as the grand prize winner of its sixth annual FedEx Small Business Grant Contest. It 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.
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.).
Senior Vice President, Customer Channel Marketing at FedEx, Scott Harkins said, “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. 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.”
CEO of Rumi Spice, Kimberly Jung said, “We are very excited to have been named the grand prize winner of the 2018 FedEx Small Business Grant contest. 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.”
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.
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.
