Amazon go: Chamber Conference crowd gets scoop on opening date for mega-job creator
AMELIA ISLAND — In less than a month, Amazon's new robotic fulfillment center in Tallahassee is slated to be open and fully operational.
The much-anticipated announcement of the mid-September opening comes after months of delays and was revealed during the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Conference, where more than 500 attendees heard for the first time what Tallahassee has been awaiting.
Months ago, Amazon finished construction of its $200-million robotics fulfillment center on Mahan Drive, off Interstate 10. However, the company didn't open the facility once the exterior was fully constructed amid companywide layoffs and a throttled growth strategy. Recurrent supply chain issues tied to its robotic technology within the building also cause the company to miss it's original late 2022 opening date.
The project has drawn wide support, considering its $451 million total economic impact in the capital city, and criticism from some regarding the facility's potential impact to traffic, surrounding neighborhoods and local businesses that may lose employees to the mega conglomerate.
In recent months, Amazon has ramped up its recruiting efforts to reach its promised workforce of creating more than 1,000 full-time jobs, making it the largest private sector investment in Tallahassee's history. During Saturday's announcement, that number was adjusted upward to 1,300 hires by the holiday season.
In conjunction with the Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality and others, Amazon hosted seven informational hiring events that attracted droves of residents vying for employment at the Mahan Drive facility.
"What we're doing now is we're continuing to coordinate job inquiries and trying to help Amazon make sure that they have access to all the resources that they need," said Keith Bowers, OEV's director. "We continue to work with all the chambers, CareerSource Capital Region and others."
Bowers said Amazon offered feedback regarding the recruiting process in Tallahassee and surrounding areas, which has generated more than 700 applications for employment.
Of all the cities with a robotic fulfillment center, Amazon indicated Tallahassee had an 80% response rate for following through the application process from start to finish. Bowers said the company usually sees about half of the applications are no-shows before the applications process is complete.
When asked what's driving Tallahassee's response to Amazon, Bowers said he thinks it's because the company is creating different opportunities.
"They're saying that they haven't experienced the level of interest," Bowers said. "This is their most advanced fulfillment center in terms of the technology that is being deployed here."
Owen Torres, an Amazon spokesman, said in a previous statement to the Tallahassee Democrat that employees would receive a starting hourly pay of $16 and health, vision, and dental insurance from day one. In addition, he said, employees also receive a 401(k) with 50% company match; up to 20 weeks paid leave, which includes 14 weeks of pregnancy-related disability leave plus 6 weeks of parental leave, along with other benefits.
"The new Amazon fulfillment center will create more than 1,000 jobs where employees will work alongside innovative technologies to pick, pack, and ship customer items," Torres said.
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Contact Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com. Follow @TaMarynWaters on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Amazon Tallahassee: Chamber conference gets news on warehouse opening
