ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the National Grocers Association (NGA) joined the newly-formed Main Street Competition Coalition at a kick-off event in Washington, D.C., to rally small business organizations across the spectrum against big corporations that use their market dominance to squeeze out smaller competitors.
NCPA and NGA are founding investors in the project. Both groups represent thousands of Main Street businesses that are often forced to defend themselves against the unfair practices of vertically-integrated corporate giants. The Main Street Competition Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition seeking to restore competitive markets across the economy.
“Main Street Businesses are done being pushed around,” said Chris Jones, dxecutive director of the new organization. “Small business is the backbone of the economy and the heart of the American dream. Unfortunately, the worst actors often have the loudest voice in Washington, D.C., and the resources to steamroll small businesses in court. That changes today.”
NCPA has battled huge insurance companies, pharmacy benefit managers, and their affiliated corporate pharmacies for decades. Conglomerates like CVS Health/Aetna, Cigna/Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth/OptumRx – all among the largest corporations in the world – use their size to steer patients and manipulate markets to their advantage.
“NCPA spends most of its time fighting monopolistic corporations in the health care sector. And today, I would like you to know why broadening that fight across the economy is important to our members and small businesses everywhere, and why we are proud to partner with the National Grocers Association to launch the Main Street Competition Coalition,” said B. Douglas Hoey, NCPA CEO. “What we’re all up against is a familiar pattern: consolidation that concentrates decision-making far away from the communities affected; vertical integration that turns gatekeepers into competitors; and dominant firms that can dictate terms across a supply chain. When a handful of powerful players can pick winners and losers, the market stops being a market and it most certainly isn’t free.”
The Main Street Competition Coalition is a nonpartisan coalition of independent businesses fighting to restore competitive markets across the economy.
NGA represents independent grocers and affiliated businesses in an industry also dominated by corporate heavyweights.
“Independent grocers are seeing growing consolidation and dominant corporations use their size and leverage to tilt the playing field against Main Street businesses,” said Laura Strange, NGA Chief Public Affairs Officer. “Local grocers fight every day to serve their communities and keep food affordable, but fair competition matters. That is why NGA is proud to partner on the Main Street Competition Coalition to support consumer choice and ensure independent businesses still have a level playing field.”
The event was held today in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club. It featured independent business owners, policy experts, and bipartisan voices from across the ideological spectrum. The Coalition also released a formal letter to President Trump and congressional leaders arguing that market concentration in grocery, pharmacy, agriculture, and other sectors is driving up prices and squeezing independent businesses out of the marketplace.
The Coalition’s policy agenda spans grocery, pharmacy, healthcare agriculture, beverage alcohol, digital markets, legal reforms, and will expand as the coalition progresses. It draws on findings from the Federal Reserve, the FTC, USDA, and congressional investigations documenting how market concentration can increase costs for consumers and restrict competition.
