Verizon Debuts Resource Hub To Help SMBs Amid Pandemic

As small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) keep contending with the effects of the pandemic, Verizon Business rolled out its inaugural SMB resource hub, according to an announcement. The “one-stop destination” combines Verizon’s different pandemic SMB relief offerings along with important information to assist small companies.

Verizon Business CEO Tami Erwin said in the announcement, “Post-pandemic recovery for small businesses will require much more than just financial assistance. Our new hub provides a robust destination for collaboration and support tools to guide business owners and entrepreneurs in reimagining their strategic visions to align with our new world realities.”

The company unveiled Comeback Coach with the new offering, which links certain small companies with top influencers in the SMB space. The mentorship initiative will be captured during the next couple of months to come, with the first episodes to be unveiled in August.

The Comeback Coach destination will also encompass a collection of SMB offerings from Verizon, like Localworks, BlueJeans, OneTalk, MDM (Mobile Device Management) and Mobile Security.

The offering comes as a Verizon Business poll showed that “64 percent of small business owners indicated they would find a resource hub dedicated to supporting and reviving small businesses once the pandemic subsides helpful,” the announcement stated.

In April, Verizon announced that it was set to buy video-conferencing company BlueJeans just as the pandemic had reshaped the manner in which millions of individuals work. At the time, a representative for Verizon would only say the firm was paying “less than $500 million” for BlueJeans. CNBC noted, per past reports, that the firm was paying approximately $400 million.

Verizon also withdrew its revenue outlook the same month amid a loss of subscribers and sales, per news in late April. The company said total revenues dropped to $21.8 billion between January and March, which marked a 1.7 percent fall from the same timeframe a year prior.