As job losses and pay cuts wreak economic havoc on Silicon Valley, the San Jose Sharks have made a point of going above and beyond when it comes to giving back to the community and their employees.

In addition, part-time workers who were already signed up to work an event before the pandemic—for instance, ushering Sharks home games—will be paid for those contests, even though those games got cancelled due to COVID-19.

“We’re going to pay for those shifts you missed because those workers are the ones most hurting because often their other job may not be as generous as we can be,” Sharks President Jonathan Becher said.

Public meetings about Google’s downtown San Jose project have been shut down for months by coronavirus health orders, pushing back approval deadlines into next year. But planning work has been proceeding inside City Hall, and the downtown transportation ideas planners are considering sound too radical to the San Jose Sharks and the San Jose Downtown Association even though they will have to go through public approval process for adoption.

The ideas “seem to prioritize and have a much disproportional emphasis on walking, bicycling and mass transit,” Sharks President Jonathan Becher said in an interview.

The San Jose Sharks announced that the Sharks Sports & Entertainment COVID-19 Relief Fund will provide individual grants to the more than 1,800 part-time staff at the SAP Center and several other related facilities.

Sharks’ President Jonathan Becher speaks with ABC7’s Kristen Sze about how they have already pledged more than $200,000 and gave details on how you can donate as well. Jonathan says. “The effect that COVID-19 has had on the lives of these people is drastic and ongoing. This is a wonderful way to say ‘thank you’ to these individuals who make our experiences truly memorable.”

More than 1,800 “sporadic part-time workers” are employed by the San Jose Sharks — most of them on event days at the SAP Center downtown, but some at the three ice rink complexes the team operates in San Jose, Fremont and Oakland.

“A $500 grant may not mean that much to some people, I’m guessing, but for an hourly worker who’s probably working at least two and more likely even three or four jobs … it means a lot,” Sharks President Jonathan Becher said in an interview.

It may be quiet inside SAP Center right now, but the San Jose Sharks made some noise off the ice Monday by launching a relief fund for more than 1,800 part-time workers — everyone from the “blue coats” who scan tickets at the Shark Tank to the person who rents skates to kids at Solar4America Ice.

The fund is already seeded with more than $200,000 from the Sharks’ owners, players, front office staff and other corporate and individual supporters. The team is already paying its staff who are full-time (or nearly full-time) during the shelter-in-place period, but Sharks President Jonathan Becher said the fund is a way to help more employees who work at SAP Center, as well as Solar4America Ice in San Jose and Fremont and the Oakland Ice Center. All four facilities have been closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and part-time workers who are eligible to apply for aid will be contacted by their supervisors.

In this one on one with San Jose Sharks President Jonathan Becher, we discuss a variety of topics including: playing to an empty arena vs getting fans back in, procedure changes to SAP Center following this unprecedented time, the impact to planned arena upgrades and the new Barracuda arena, options for the ’20-’21 season, fans reassessing their financial commitments to attending sports events, a “zero barrier” for the ’19-’20 season looking back on Game 7, recommendations while people #StayAtHome, and more.

Teal Town USA – Your favorite San Jose Sharks’ post-game vodcast, for the fans, by the fans!

San Jose Sharks Majority Owner Hasso Plattner today announced changes to the organization’s business operations unit. Jonathan Becher (@jbecher) has been named sole president of Sharks Sports & Entertainment (SSE), effective immediately. Becher will also serve as an alternate governor for the franchise with the National Hockey League.

Plattner continued, “Over the last two years at the Sharks and his previous decade at SAP, I have seen first-hand that Jonathan delivers an outstanding end-to-end experience to customers. With his combination of technology and sports background, I am confident he is the right person to lead the organization through our next evolution.”