Edwardsville company says working with NRA not in its best interest

An Edwardsville-based business with clients that include NASA, the U.S. Army, Boeing and Al Jazeera will deny the same services to the National Rifle Association, its CEO says.

Datarecovery.com is ending the discount program it had offered to NRA members and will not take any more of the organization's business, Ben Carmitchel said.

It's the first time the business has ever denied services to an association or entity, Carmitchel said.

"We're following the bandwagon, pretty much," Carmitchel said from Arizona, citing business decisions from major airlines. "It’s in line with public opinion … we’ve got hunters, we’ve got people that were in the NRA in the company, and they’re no longer associated."

He said the company is 20-percent owned by its 15 employees, who also decided to match customer's donations to Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund. Previously, a button on the payment part of the website allowed for donations to wildfire victims.

"We're just a small company and we don't compare to Delta or United Airlines, but I figured we'd do our part ... and disassociate with the NRA," he said.

The company recovers data from hard drives and cell phones, among other services. Annual revenue is about $20 million a year.

This story was originally published February 26, 2018 at 3:04 PM with the headline "Edwardsville company says working with NRA not in its best interest."