NASHVILLE – A marketing strategies company with a growing profile among credit unions has inaugurated a program which seeks to service credit union members who own small businesses. "Small businesses are an extremely important part of the American business picture and one that we perceive is increasingly turning to credit unions for help," said Todd Smith, communications director for the Nashville based Progeny Marketing Innovations. Going through credit unions seemed an efficient way to market to small business owners, Smith explained. Under an arrangement with Denver-based card processor First Data Resources, Progeny will offer small business owners, including those that belong to credit unions, access to the kinds of reduced prices on travel, telecom services, office equipment and merchandise that the company says have long been available to larger businesses. Small businesses represented 99.7% of all employers in the United States, according to the Small Business Administration and added 75% to the economy's new jobs, the firm said. The offerings include preferred pricing for small businesses on health care, dental care, vision and prescription drug services which, Smith pointed out, can be crucial for small businesses trying to remain competitive in the market for good employees. Progeny is very excited about this offering, Smith said, because the company is committed to helping credit unions become the preferred financial partners of America's 22.9 million small businesses.