Deluxe Corporation Foundation today announced a $170,000 award to Chicago-based Women's Business Development Center (WBDC), the nation's oldest, largest and most successful small business assistance center for women. WBDC will use the grant to convert its business education courses - currently only offered in-person - into online, on-demand, interactive learning opportunities. This will enable the WBDC to better serve its clients through expanded reach and capacity.

"Our curriculum is designed to educate female entrepreneurs so they are able to make informed decisions and successfully compete in the marketplace," said Hedy M. Ratner, WBDC co-president. "However, many women are not able to attend our in-person workshops due to time, financial or family constraints. Deluxe Corporation Foundation's generous support will provide entrepreneurs with a learning experience equal to our in-person training, but with far greater flexibility."

Consistent with other WBDC offerings, online learning opportunities will be available in English and Spanish. The project will be carried out in two phases: programming the WBDC website to support online learning and converting the in-person courses into on-demand modules.

"The Deluxe Corporation Foundation is focused on long-term solutions that help people, businesses and communities thrive and grow," said Lee Schram, chief executive officer of Deluxe and president of the Deluxe Corporation Foundation. "This mission is reflected in our grant to the Women's Business Development Center, enabling them to help many more female entrepreneurs by providing business education courses in an online environment."

About the WBDC
A nationally and internationally recognized women's business assistance center celebrating its 25th year of operation in 2011, the WBDC provides a continuum of business development services to prospective and established women entrepreneurs including counseling, training, financial, certification and procurement assistance in Spanish and English. The mission of the WBDC is to provide services and programs that support and accelerate women's business ownership and strengthen the impact of women on the economy. For further information about the WBDC, visit http://www.wbdc.org or call (312) 853-3477. The WBDC is headquartered at 8 S. Michigan Avenue, 4th Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60603.

About the Deluxe Corporation Foundation
Since its creation in 1952, the Deluxe Corporation Foundation has awarded more than $90 million to education, arts and human services programs. To learn more, visit http://www.deluxe.com/about-deluxe/foundation.jsp.

Chris Ruys Communications
Chris Ruys, 312-337-7746
chris@chrisruys.com