The COVID-19 pandemic and related shelter-in-place orders disrupted every business owner’s operations in some way. For small businesses relying mostly on in-person sales, the pivot to e-commerce was a necessity to keep their businesses running but a daunting prospect.

In the early days of the pandemic, a group of highly experienced e-commerce and marketing professionals came together over a shared concern for the mom-and-pop retailers that had become invisible to their customers the moment everyone stopped leaving their homes. Commerce4Good was created and built a network of more than 100 volunteers to help businesses get online and noticed across digital channels.

A group of Perkins Coie attorneys, led by Partners Joe Bailey and Sam Jo, helped Commerce4Good get established, forming the organization and developing template agreements for use with the organization’s volunteers and clients. The team continues to offer general legal advice while Commerce4Good mentors over 40 clients throughout the country, across various industries, and helps them adapt to a new digital norm.