eBay Supports Improvement of Work Environment for Disabled Small Business Owners with $100,000 Funding

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] eBay Korea is improving the facility environment of the ‘Disabled Entrepreneurs Comprehensive Support Center,’ under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which fosters domestic entrepreneurs and businesspeople with disabilities, through eBay headquarters’ ‘Global Give’ project.

‘Global Give’ is a support program run by the eBay Foundation operated by eBay headquarters. Every year, ideas are collected from eBay employees worldwide, and support recipients are selected through employee voting.

This year, a total of $3 million in grants was provided to 53 organizations worldwide, targeting institutions or NGOs supporting small and vulnerable merchants severely affected by COVID-19. In Korea, the Disabled Entrepreneurs Comprehensive Support Center was the only organization selected, receiving $100,000 (approximately 100 million KRW) in support. It is one of the organizations receiving the largest amount of support among the selected institutions.

With this eBay grant, the Disabled Entrepreneurs Comprehensive Support Center will further improve the accessibility of office spaces where disabled entrepreneurs work. Although the center is used as office space for disabled small business owners, it is not certified as a Barrier-Free environment (BF certification), and the facilities are aging, making improvements urgent.

Accordingly, eBay Korea plans to comprehensively improve the facility environment, focusing on repairing the aging center and replacing equipment. They will also introduce convenience facilities for the disabled, such as voice services for the visually impaired and video phones for the hearing impaired, as well as safety accident prevention facilities. Additionally, digital displays will be installed to enable customized customer service according to the type and degree of disability.

Meanwhile, eBay Korea supports local small sellers with an annual budget of 6 billion KRW for market development, seller education, and overseas export support through eBay Open Market and Gmarket Global Shop. Last year, using the global give grant from eBay headquarters, they supported ‘Fire Safety Education for Retired Firefighters and Traditional Market Merchants’ in cooperation with the Korea Retired Firefighters Association.

Yoonhee Hong, Director of Corporate Communications at eBay Korea, said, “It is meaningful to raise awareness of the dynamism of domestic disabled entrepreneurship and business environments through the eBay Foundation’s grant competition supporting opportunities for small sellers. We hope this support will greatly help improve the working environment and prevent safety accidents for disabled small business owners.”

Eunyoung Ko, Planning and Coordination Team Leader at the Disabled Entrepreneurs Comprehensive Support Center, expressed deep gratitude, saying, “Through the global marketplace eBay’s support program, stable support for early-stage disabled startups facing difficulties and smart customer response have become possible. We will continue to focus our capabilities on laying the foundation for disabled enterprises to grow and develop in the COVID-19 era.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.