American Express Company 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

GRI INDEX
EMPOWERING ENTREPRENEURS
Supporting small businesses growth
Small businesses help communities thrive by bringing character
to neighborhoods, as well as jobs and investment. We have
been dedicated to serving them for more than 25 years. When
we help small businesses reach their potential, we can make an
exponential positive impact on communities.
In 2015, small business owners used OPEN
cards to fund more than $200 billion in
purchases, just like Cissé Trading.
For example, our American Express OPEN Charge and Credit
Cards help small businesses grow. The card gives small
business owners funding to help them buy what they need,
when they need it, for their business. And that’s just one of
the ways we support small businesses. We also offer a suite
of programs and resources including online resources, live
events, and one-to-one business meetings.
Sweet rewards for
Cissé Trading
Diana Lovett is the founder of Cissé,
a New York-based maker of gourmet
brownie mixes, hot cocoa and snackable
brownie thins.
With a background in international
aid, Lovett’s vision was to create a
company that was a vehicle for positive
change. Cissé’s organic cocoa is sourced
from a Fair Trade cooperative in the
Dominican Republic. By paying a fair
price, Cissé enables the cooperative to
invest profits back into the community,
for projects such as schools, improved
farming practices and a health clinic.
Getting capital to fund growth
has been challenging. Lovett and her
husband self-funded the first brownie
mix prototype with their own savings.
Then she moved on to credit cards.
“That’s a reality for early stage
companies,” she says in an article on
American Express OPEN Forum.
“We felt like we could trust American
Express.” Currently, Lovett is a
Business Gold Rewards Card Member.
“I’ve used it to purchase thousands
of pounds of nuts, dried fruit, vanilla
bean and tons of other ingredients, to
ship pallets across the country, to fly
to meetings with buyers, to purchase
materials for our trade show booth,
to send samples to buyers and tons of
other ways. It’s indispensable.”
“ We felt like we could trust
American Express.”
38