Audible’s 2019 Economic Impact Study

An economic impact study measured Audible’s direct and indirect investments in the city and concluded that Audible generated a total of $775 million in economic activity as of 2019. To view the study, visit Audible.com/economicimpact.

We moved our headquarters to Newark in 2007 to be part of the city’s urban renaissance and have focused on increasing local opportunity and spurring the innovation economy ever since. These efforts tap into the strength and creativity of our Newark community to help grow local talent and attract new business to the city while also encouraging our employees to be active participants in the city’s renaissance and leveraging our business and employee spending to create a stronger and more inclusive economy for all.

Highlights from the study:

Creating Job Opportunities for Newarkers

Over the past 12 years, Audible has been a major driver for the growth of the Newark economy. From 2015 to 2018, while Newark’s job market continued to reel from the global financial crisis, Audible doubled our workforce in the city and helped support Newark’s recovery. Audible’s rapid expansion and investment in the region has created a wealth of new employment opportunities for Newarkers, and from 2015-2019, Audible accounted for 11% of all new jobs added in the city.

Growing the Innovation Economy

To help further Audible’s goal of spurring Newark’s innovation economy—which encompasses industries such as IT, professional, and scientific services—Audible founder and Executive Chairman Don Katz launched Newark Venture Partners (NVP) in 2016. Backed in part by Audible, NVP is a venture fund and accelerator for early-stage tech companies that attracts entrepreneurs to Newark and supports local technologists and founders. Totaling $27 million in funding since inception, NVP is helping to support traditionally underrepresented groups in Newark’s tech industry and helping Newark become an emerging hub for tech entrepreneurs. More than half of NVP’s 74 portfolio companies have at least one female founder or founder of color, and NVP companies and events have attracted 10,000 visitors to Newark, driving further investment in the city. From 2015 to 2019 Newark’s innovation economy grew by 9% surpassing Brooklyn, which grew by 7%.

In May of 2019, Audible opened the Innovation Cathedral in downtown Newark. Housed in the former Second Presbyterian Church, the cathedral is symbolic of Audible’s longstanding commitment to investing in Newark. Over 400 highly skilled technologistswork in the cathedral, and the 80,000 square foot space also supports numerous workforce and design initiatives for local students, interns, and entrepreneurs, bolstering Newark’s reputation as one of the nation’s fastest-growing tech hubs. The renovation of the historic landmark also supported an additional $28 million of economic impact in Newark, and created 160 construction-related jobs for Newarkers.

Live Local, Hire Local, Buy Local

Audible is committed to sustaining the local Newark economy. We encourage our employees to live locally by providing a monthly housing subsidy to employees who live in Newark, which has tripled the number of employees who live in the city. Audible has also worked to develop a pipeline of local talent in Newark. One in four of Audible’s Customer Care employees are hired through community organizations in the city, and 15% of Audible employees who work in Newark live there too. We continue to create employment opportunities for local job seekers through workshops and training programs, and by offering paid internships to Newark high school students.

Through our Lunch Out Wednesday (LOW) program, Audible offers vouchers to employees who eat at local restaurants, leading to nearly 27,140 meals purchased between September 2017 and December 2019, and injecting hundreds of thousands of dollars back into the Newark community.

Earlier this spring, Audible leveraged our experience and relationships from the LOW program to help local restaurants and feed residents facing the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Audible launched Newark Working Kitchens (NWK), to deliver thousands of nutritious meals a week to vulnerable populations in urgent need. To date, NWK has delivered over 300,000 meals to Newarkers, sustaining and strengthening the small businesses hit hard by the coronavirus, and helping to address food insecurity experienced by residents across the city.