Amazon Small Business Academy to help thousands
of entrepreneurs gain digital strategy and brand building skills to
make their ambitions reality, through free in-person seminar events
and live webinars, as well as community college classes across the
country
First Amazon Small Business Academy seminar
held today in Mississippi with next event planned for early
December
Amazon-supported digital business courses in
community colleges will launch in February 2020 at schools in
Boston, Mass.; Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Elyria, Ohio; Fresno, Calif.;
Houston, Texas; and Lakewood, Colo.
Initiative strengthens Amazon’s commitment to
empowering small businesses, which make up 99.9% of U.S. businesses
and employ almost 60 million people, according to the Small
Business Administration
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced a range of Amazon Small
Business Academy programs to help small businesses harness the
power of the internet to reach more customers, build their brand,
and grow sales. The initiatives includes in-person seminars,
community college courses, and webinars.
“Small businesses make up 99.9% of U.S. businesses, employ
almost 60 million people, and are the backbone of our economy.
We’ve heard from many of them that they want help and guidance to
take advantage of the power of the internet and digital business,
particularly in rural areas,” said Nicholas Denissen, Amazon Vice
President of Small Business. “Amazon Small Business Academy is
focused on accelerating small business’ digital capabilities,
whether they are a brand new company or one that has been in
business for generations.”
Today in Southaven, Mississippi near Memphis, Tenn., Amazon is
hosting its first Amazon Small Business Academy event, featuring
special guest speaker U.S. Senator Roger F. Wicker. The free
seminar will provide more than 100 attendees with insights, best
practices, and how-to skills to start and grow a business online,
or expand an existing business on the internet. The company’s next
Amazon Small Business Academy seminar will be held in December,
with more events planned for 2020.
“Small business owners and entrepreneurs are the driving force
behind economic growth in Mississippi and across America,” said
Senator Wicker. “The Amazon Small Business Academy will empower
more small businesses to succeed, particularly in rural states,
through digital tools and broadband access.”
The Amazon Small Business Academy program also includes a grant
to the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship
(NACCE) to help fund curriculum development and instruction of
digital business courses in community college classrooms around the
country. The classes will cover the fundamentals of online business
strategies, marketing, merchandising, inventory management, and
more. The curriculum will provide sixteen hours of beginner,
intermediate and advanced content, created in collaboration with
NACCE and the program’s lead schools: Lorain County Community
College in Elyria near Cleveland, Ohio and North Idaho College in
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Classes will begin in February 2020 at the
lead schools, as well as Bunker Hill Community College in Boston,
Mass.; State Center Community College District in partnership with
Fresno City College, in Fresno, Calif.; Houston Community College
in Houston, Texas; and Red Rocks Community College in Lakewood,
Colo.
“We’re thrilled to embark on this innovative program with
Amazon,” said Rebecca Corbin, Ed.D., president and CEO of NACCE,
the nation’s leading organization focused on promoting
entrepreneurship through community colleges, representing more than
325 community and technical colleges and 2,000 faculty, staff,
administrators and presidents who serve more than three million
students. “Community colleges provide valuable content and
programming for both aspiring and current small business owners.
This Amazon grant will help NACCE and the schools foster the next
generation of businesses to power the U.S. economy.”
The Amazon Small Business Academy program also offers webinars
to help current and aspiring small business owners throughout the
country gain digital skills. The online seminars will provide best
practices for successful selling in Amazon stores and include live
Q&A with experts. Registration is open for an initial webinar
here.
Altogether, U.S.-based small and medium-sized businesses sell on
average more than 4,000 items per minute in Amazon’s stores.
Overall, independent third-party sellers – primarily small and
medium-sized businesses – made up 58% of all physical gross
merchandise sold in Amazon’s stores last year and their sales far
exceeded $2 billion on Prime Day in July this year.
In little more than a year, U.S. companies with products in
Amazon Storefronts, a curated destination to shop exclusively from
American small and medium-sized businesses, have sold more than 250
million items to more than 70 million unique customers.
Amazon has released more than 150 tools and services in 2019 to
help independent small and medium-sized businesses grow their sales
online, which is part of the more than $15 billion the company is
on track to invest this year in the success of its selling
partners.
Amazon recently announced the finalists for its first-ever Small
Business Spotlight Awards, an awards program established this year
to honor and celebrate top entrepreneurs and small businesses
across the country selling in Amazon’s stores. Customers can vote
for the winners through November 8.
To learn more about the millions of small and medium-sized
businesses selling in Amazon’s stores, visit:
https://www.aboutamazon.com/supporting-small-businesses.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather
than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to
operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews,
1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment
by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets,
Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and
services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit
www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191101005154/en/
Amazon.com, Inc. Media Hotline Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024