MINNEAPOLIS – July 29, 2020 // During a global pandemic and an economic downturn which could challenge the Great Depression in depth and scale, Minneapolis-based ADX Labs Inc is successfully adapting by investing in people and communities.
“By doubling down on our core values, and by engaging all 120 of our people in our shared mission, ADX is growing, and, I hope, leading by example,” said Steven M. Renner, founder and Chairman of the group.
For privately held ADX, leading by example requires three key principles: invest in great people, proactively support our communities, and pursue self-reliance by trusting its decisions.
“As a global group of companies in technology, entertainment and services, the coronavirus pandemic started to encroach on us from the first days of 2020,” said Mr. Renner. “We took an early decision to maintain full employment across our group, and to seek and hire great new recruits as they may become available.” As a result, ADX has added to its global headcount over the first seven months of 2020, growing its total number of full-time employees by more than 9%. The group’s headcount has almost doubled since 2018.
ADX’s second principle, to proactively invest in our communities, has been driven by the company’s charitable arm, the ADX Foundation. Since April 2020, ADX has donated more than $250,000 to relevant local and global non-profits.
“In the last three months, we have contributed $100,000 to CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) to speed R&D into a vaccine against COVID-19, $90,000 to Second Harvest Heartland to help alleviate hunger in pandemic-impacted families in our home state of Minnesota, $40,000 to Minneapolis’ Longfellow Business Association to help small businesses recover from devastating riot damage in the wake of the tragic death of George Floyd, and $18,000 to fund a community bulletin board resource for members of the public who rely on those small businesses for their daily necessities. And on July 11, MyMy Music, our indie music streaming service focused on cultivating and promoting independent artists, staged a spectacular community outreach event in partnership with Brooklyn NY-based non-profit The ARC of Justice – hundreds of local families in economic distress received care packages of necessities to help get through these tough times” said Mr. Renner.
ADX’s third principle, to pursue self-reliance and to trust its decisions, is best demonstrated by the fact that the company returned a substantial federal government “PPP” loan within days of receiving the funds.
“I’ll be honest: the first days of quarantine were as scary for us as they were for everyone. Like many businesses with substantial headcount, we accepted our bankers’ urging to apply for federal payroll protection assistance. However, only days after ADX Labs received those federal funds, it was clear to us than too many other businesses were unable to apply before the initial tranche of funds were exhausted. We bet on the excellence of our people and our products and we made the decision to immediately return the loan. In fact, the exercise not only cost us effort but an interest payment, but we had trust in ourselves," said Mr. Renner. “It was the right thing to do, and our strong sales and growth through the second quarter of 2020 is evidence that ADX will continue to make the world a better place, through the power of technology, for decades to come.”
Media enquiries: Simon Cousins, scousins@adxnet.com
About ADX Labs, Inc.
ADX Labs, Inc. (ADX) is a technology company focused on providing a range of innovative products and services for individuals, home-based businesses, and the small to medium enterprise market. It is the core company in a global group of technology, entertainment and services brands and businesses. ADX independently funds the ADX Foundation, a registered non-profit philanthropic organization which has invested in children, communities, and social justice since 2013. Learn more at http://adxlabs.com
Organizations mentioned in this article
CEPI (the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations): http://cepi.net
Longfellow Business Association: https://www.longfellowbusinessassociation.org/
MyMy Music: https://MyMyMusic.com
Second Harvest Heartland: https://2harvest.org
