Amazon sends Phoenix area some love in form of electronics to schools

PHOENIX — Amazon may have snubbed metro Phoenix as a secondary base, but the online retailer showed some heart by donating $230,000 in electronics to local schools.

The Maricopa County Education Agency said the gift came on Wednesday, the anniversary of Arizona’s admission to statehood 106 years ago. That was also Valentine’s Day.

County schools Superintendent Steve Watson said the goods would go to STEM, technical education and engineering programs at public and charter schools.

Related: Amazon passes over Arizona cities for second headquarters site

Students from Phoenix Union Bioscience High School helped with the unboxing and sorting the 4,100-plus items.

Headphones, drones, microphones, ear buds, Watson challenge boxes and even markers were among the presents to be distributed to schools through giveaways to teachers and direct donations.

The Watson challenges vary from box to box. Parts and the assigned task are included.

Seattle-based Amazon said 238 cities and towns submitted proposals by the January deadline. Chandler, Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe all sent in bids in October. The field was narrowed to 20 and none of them were chosen.

The tech giant planned to invest at least $5 billion in construction on the site and employ as many as 50,000.

A company representative told the Phoenix Business Journal that the company had more than 7,500 workers locally.

There are two enormous wish-fulfillment centers in west Phoenix and Goodyear, a tech center in Tempe and a small warehouse in Chandler.

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