Amazon Announces $5M Fund To Help Small Seattle Businesses Tackle Coronavirus Impact

Amazon.com Inc. AMZN on Tuesday announced a $5 million fund to help small businesses in Seattle deal with the economic impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

What Happened

Businesses, which employ less than 50 people and gross less than $7 million in annual revenue, would be eligible for the grant, Amazon vice president of global real estate John Schoettler said in a statement.

Schoettler added that only businesses with a physical presence "within a few blocks" of Amazon's Regrade and South Lake Union office and rely on foot traffic for their revenue would be eligible for the grant.

"These businesses support tens of thousands of local jobs that are a critical part of the Seattle and Puget Sound economy," Schoettler said. "They're our friends and neighbors, and we believe it's important to try to help them confront the economic challenges that are likely to come from the COVID-19 outbreak."

Why It Matters

Amazon asked all its employees in Seattle to work from home after it confirmed the first infection of the coronavirus in an employee earlier this month.

The Seattle-based company also announced last week that it would pay all hourly workers regular wages during the outbreak irrespective of the hours they are needed to work.

Several other technology companies, including Microsoft Corporation MSFT, Facebook Inc., Apple Inc., and Alphabet Inc. GOOGL GOOG, have announced their own fundings to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus.