Today, we held a grand opening in our Chicago corporate office, showcasing our space, teams, and leadership on the eve of Prime Day. The office, in the heart of Chicago’s Loop, has more than 200 employees working on Amazon Web Services, Operations, and advertising. And I’m excited to announce that our Chicago office will double in size in the upcoming months.

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Mayor Rahm Emanuel and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin addressed the crowd, sharing how the strengths of Chicago are all reflected in Amazon. In addition, Amazon seller Andrea Sreshta, co-Founder of LuminAID, talked about how her business’ reach has expanded worldwide since selling on Amazon.

In addition, we announced a $10,000 donation to Chicago-based veterans group Code Platoon. Code Platoon teaches veterans how to code, and we’ll be working with them on a series of job training activities in the upcoming months.

We are excited to be in Chicago, and loved welcoming community members to our office today.