Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced plans to open in Spokane its first fulfillment center in Eastern Washington, creating more than 1,500 full-time jobs with benefits starting on day one. Amazon currently employs more than 50,000 people across the state at its headquarters in Seattle and facilities supporting customer fulfillment in DuPont, Kent and Sumner. The company has invested more than $37 billion in Washington State, including infrastructure and compensation to its teams from 2011-2017.
“We’re excited to open a new, state-of-the-art fulfillment center in Spokane and to continue innovating in our home state,” said Mark Stewart, Amazon’s Vice President of North America Customer Fulfillment. “Washington is known for providing great opportunities for jobs and customer experience, and we are grateful to the dedicated local and state officials and teams who came together to support Amazon in bringing a new fulfillment center to Eastern Washington.”
Amazon employees at the more than 600,000-square-foot fulfillment center will work alongside Amazon Robotics to pick, pack and ship items to customers such as games, housewares, school supplies and pet toys.
“More than 1,500 jobs are coming to Spokane thanks to this important project,” Governor Jay Inslee said. “Congratulations to Amazon and all the local partners who have worked so hard to bring these exciting job opportunities to the region.”
"We are excited to have Amazon join our business community with a significant financial investment and new employment opportunities,” said Spokane County Commissioner for West Spokane Al French. "Amazon is another Fortune 100 company to see Spokane as a critical part of their success and want to be part of Spokane's growth."
Full-time employees at Amazon receive competitive hourly wages and a comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, disability insurance, 401(k) and company stock awards starting on day one. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of paid parental leave and innovative benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility with their growing families.
“Amazon’s decision to build their new facility format in our community validates the innovative vision of leaders from Spokane County, the City of Spokane and Spokane International Airport to create the first County-City PDA in the state. The West Plains/Airport Area PDA enabled the public-private partnership necessary to make this site work for our newest corporate partner,” said Larry Krauter, chairman of the West Plains/Airport Area Public Development Authority. “The West Plains/Airport Area PDA is committed to Amazon’s long-term success as we view their project as the first in a series of developments that will benefit from the unique combination of air, rail and surface transportation infrastructure with available land in the airport area.”
Amazon offers full-time employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where the company will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. Since the program’s launch, over 16,000 employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.
The project is being developed by Trammell Crow Company and was made possible by Greater Spokane Incorporated, The West Plains/Airport Public Development Authority, Spokane County and Spokane International Airport.
To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, visit amazondelivers.jobs.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.