Amazon Marks Anniversary of HQ2 With $9M Pledge to Virginia and DC Areas

This year, we are all looking for reasons to celebrate, and Amazon has them in droves. While expansion has been the name of the game for the progressive company, the operational powerhouse is taking a beat to recognize one of its thriving communities. It has been two years since Amazon unveiled its final choice for a second headquarters, after much deliberation and a country-wide search for the $5 billion investment. Now, the company is recommitting to one of its newer homes, the Arlington, Virginia, area, with a $9 million investment plan.

The strategy is, cumulatively, Amazon's largest philanthropic move for the area since making its HQ2 decision, according to Washington Business Journal. Among the five areas the company will be donating gifts to are: health facilities, racial justice organizations, and legal service providers as the retailer looks to deepen its commitment to the region.

“It’s an understatement to say how proud we are to be part of National Landing,” Brian Huseman, Amazon Vice President of Public Policy—whose team led the search for the HQ2 location—said in a statement. "To mark this milestone, we will donate $9 million to help support a broad range of local community organizations that make up the fabric of the diverse, vibrant region we now call home."

The detailed donations include:

• $3 million to four legal service providers to help support families in the Virginia and DC region. Recipients include Legal Services of Northern Virginia, Virginia Poverty Law Center, Bread for the City’s Legal Clinic, and Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
• $1 million to organizations that are advancing the cause of racial equity and community empowerment, such as Bridges to Independence, Offender Aid and Restoration, and the Arlington Branch NAACP Scholarship Program
• $1 million to community health facilities, including the Arlington Free Clinic, Alexandria Neighborhood Health, Children’s National Hospital, and the Virginia Hospital Center
• $500,000 to community organizations that will help advance economic opportunity through literacy programs and job training, such as La Cocina VA, DC Central Kitchen’s Culinary Job Training Program, and the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia
• $3.5 million designated for community organizations across the region supporting small businesses, military families, the environment, the arts and more

Alice Shobe, Director for Amazon in the Community, and her team have worked over the last two years to understand the most pressing issues facing consumers in the area, effectively determining Amazon’s $3 million gift to legal service providers to support families in the Virginia and DC region in need of immediate assistance for housing-related issues.

“This $3 million donation will quickly provide support to individuals and families who need help. Tenant rights are a particularly complicated issue right now, and families are facing innumerable challenges related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” Shobe noted.

To read more on the plan and those impacted by this move, click here.

Giving back is not just an act of gratitude, it is also good business as companies seek to deliver long-term growth for generations of business leaders to come.