Amazon.com Inc. confirmed this morning it will open a second fulfillment center in Jacksonville that will add more than 1,000 jobs.
Employees at the 1 million-square-foot center will pick, pack and ship large items like household decor, sporting equipment and gardening tools.
The 86-acre site already is being cleared in Cecil Commerce Center at 13333 103rd St. in West Jacksonville.
Mayor Lenny Curry said in a news release the development at Cecil is a “tremendous asset for our city.”
“I am looking forward to Amazon's expanding presence in our city and contributions to its continued economic development and growth,” he said.
A Northwest Jacksonville facility for the Seattle-based e-commerce retailer announced six months ago is under construction. The 1,500 workers will pick, pack and ship small consumer items such as books, electronics and consumer goods.
"Landing a second facility in such a short amount of time further solidifies the JAX region as a place of unlimited opportunity, fueled by possibilities,” said Aaron Bowman, senior vice president of JAXUSA Partnership and a City Council member.
Together, the two centers represent a promised investment of $315 million — $200 million for Northwest Jacksonville and $115 million for Cecil.
Taxpayer incentives for the two total $26.7 million — $18.4 million for Northwest Jacksonville and $8.3 million for Cecil.
During the past three years, the company has announced multiple facilities in Florida, including four fulfillment centers and two sortation centers, as well as Prime Now hubs in Miami, Tampa and Orlando.
It employs more than 4,000 workers in the state, the release said.
Mike Grissom, executive vice president of Enterprise Florida Inc., said the company has been one of the state’s best job creators since it announced its first project three years ago.
“This most recent project in Jacksonville is another great win for Florida and we thank Amazon for their continued investment and job creation,” Grissom said.
Gov. Rick Scott said the decision to continue investing and creating jobs in Florida was great news.
“I look forward to celebrating the many new job opportunities Amazon will bring to Jacksonville families and their continued success across Florida,” Scott said.
The first Jacksonville center at 12900 Pecan Park Road should open this fall. The release did not say when the Cecil center will start operating.
To qualify for the incentives, 500 of the 1,500 Northwest Jacksonville workers will be paid $50,000 a year, while 325 of the 1,200 Cecil employees will make an average of $50,675.
Both centers will hire more workers for seasonal work during the holidays.
The city is reviewing a permit application for the building at Cecil Commerce Center.
Fort Worth-based Hillwood Investment Properties, the master developer at Cecil, will buy the land from the city for $8,819 an acre, or more than $758,000.
The Conlan Co. is the contractor for both Jacksonville centers.
The multilevel Northwest Jacksonville center has a base footprint of 855,000 square feet.
The company also intends to operate a 63,000-square-foot delivery station in the Alta Lakes Commerce Center, nine miles east of the Pecan Park Road facility. No job count has been announced for that operation.
Amazon says full-time employees receive competitive hourly wages and a comprehensive benefits package, including health care, 401(k) and company stock awards starting on day one.
The company said it also offers employees programs like Career Choice, where it will prepay 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 four years ago, more than 7,000 employees in 10 countries have pursued degrees in fields such as game design and visual communications, nursing, information technology programming and radiology.
The company also recently announced a commitment to hire 25,000 military veterans and spouses in the U.S. during the next five years and train 10,000 in cloud computing.
To learn more about working at Amazon, visit amazondelivers.jobs.
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