The Birmingham-based company Shipt, once praised by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, received a “high risk” score from an organization that rates companies based on their hostility to particular viewpoints.

The 1792 Exchange recently released its Spotlight Report, which assesses policies, practices and other criteria to determine how likely a company is to cancel contracts, clients or investments due to viewpoint diversity.

The nonprofit gave Shipt, a grocery delivery service company, a “high risk” score due to several factors, including what it claims are policies that discriminate against religious organizations.

Companies were given a “lower,” “medium” or “higher” risk rating based on several sets of criteria, such as whether the company has previously denied service to customers or supplies based on religious or political affiliations or whether it has given money to charitable organization based on ideology. 

“High risk” companies were found to have canceled or denied business to people and other organizations who did not share their views.

Last week, 1819 News reported that Regions Bank, also based in Birmingham, received a “medium risk” score from the Exchange. 

The Exchange found that Shipt has donated to politically-driven organizations such as the ACLU, Black Lives Matter and the Human Rights Campaign, which advocated against legislation last year that prevented minors from having sex changes. 

In 2017, Shipt was acquired by Target Corporation, a particularly infamous company in terms of political activism. Target has pledged to vet vendors for LGBTQ policies and has donated to the Equality PAC, co-chaired by Rep. Mark Takano (D-California), who has been outspoken about his support for transgendered people being allowed to use the restroom and locker room of their choosing. 

The Exchange also accused Shipt of advocating for transgender participation in youth sports and failing to protect employees from viewpoint discrimination. 

According to Zippa.com, Shipt employees are most likely to be members of the Democratic Party. 

Shipt was founded in Birmingham in 2014. When the company expanded its headquarters in 2018, the City of Birmingham gave $1.7 million to the company for “professional skill development, hiring local talent, and attracting software engineers and data scientists.”

The state also provided the company tax credits under the Alabama Jobs Act.

Ivey lauded the expansion and published a press release touting the plan’s potential for creating more than 1,000 jobs and $1.1. billion in new payroll.

“By simplifying life with innovative technology for personalized grocery delivery, Shipt is positioned for rapid growth,” Ivey said. “The ideal location for this growth is its hometown of Birmingham, and we’re committed to helping the company develop and attract the talent it needs to fuel its expansion plans in Alabama’s ‘Magic City.”

The company was also praised by Alabama Department of Commerce Secretary Greg Canfield, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, and former Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington. 

At the time of the government-assisted expansion project, Target had already acquired Shipt and explicitly stated its support for transgender restrooms. 

You can view Shipt’s full profile on the 1792 Exchange here:

1719 Exchange Shipt Profile by Hank Hill on Scribd

To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email will.blakely@1819news.com or find him on Twitter and Facebook.

Don't miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.

Fishers Farm730 CMP Article Bottom NCF