SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced plans to open two new Ohio fulfillment centers, one in Akron and the other in Rossford, creating more than 2,500 full-time jobs with comprehensive benefits and opportunities to work alongside Amazon robotics in an industry-leading workplace.
“Ohio has been a great place to do business, serve customers and create jobs; as a result, we are thrilled to develop two state-of-the-art fulfillment centers in Akron and Rossford,” said Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s Vice President of Global Customer Fulfillment. “We're excited to grow our team in the Buckeye state, which now includes more than 8,500 Amazonians, and be part of the larger Ohio community.”
“Amazon continues to demonstrate confidence in the great workforce and e-commerce business climate we have in Ohio,” said Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. “I’m pleased to welcome two additional investments from Amazon, which bring thousands of new jobs to Ohio and cutting-edge facilities to Akron and Rossford.”
Each fulfillment center is more than 700,000 square feet and will be used to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys. All associates will go through hours of safety training and ongoing coaching and will have access to continuing education opportunities through Amazon’s upskilling programs such as Career Choice in which 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 25,000 employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.
On top of Amazon’s $15 minimum wage, the company offers full-time employees comprehensive benefits including full medical, vision, and dental insurance as well as a 401(k) with 50 percent match starting on day one. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of maternal and parental paid leave and innovative benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility with their growing families. In addition, Amazon has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in demand jobs. Programs will help Amazonians from all backgrounds access training to move into highly skilled roles across the company’s corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retails stores, and transportation network, or pursue career paths outside of Amazon.
“Amazon has been a strong partner in Ohio, creating more than 8,500 jobs here that have brought benefits and health care on day one,” said J.P. Nauseef, JobsOhio President and Chief Investment Officer. “JobsOhio and our regional and local partners welcome these new facilities that will employ 2,500 Ohioans, revitalize an Akron neighborhood, and bring Amazon’s largest Northwest Ohio investment to Rossford.”
“We are excited to have Amazon build on to its already strong business relationship with Ohio by selecting the City of Akron for its new facility,” said Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan. “Once completed, this fulfillment center will provide even more opportunities for good jobs to people seeking employment in and around Akron.”
“Rossford is home to an increasingly diverse business community, we are thrilled that Amazon will be joining those ranks by locating its new fulfillment center here,” said Rossford Mayor Neil A. MacKinnon III. ”We welcome Amazon as our new neighbor and look forward to the job creation Amazon will bring for members of our community and the surrounding areas.”
An Amazon presence in Ohio means more than just the jobs provided within the fulfillment center’s four walls. In addition to full-benefit, great jobs inside its buildings, the company has brought thousands of jobs in construction and services. Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $5 billion in the state through its customer fulfillment and cloud infrastructure, and compensation to its employees. Using methodology developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Amazon estimates its investments in the state have created an additional 19,000 indirect jobs on top of the company’s direct hires.
Amazon’s fulfillment network supports millions of businesses of all sizes worldwide through its Fulfillment By Amazon offering, and many of those local organizations are based right here in Ohio. There are more than 55,000 authors, small and medium-sized businesses, and developers in Ohio growing their companies and reaching new customers on Amazon products and services.
These projects are being developed in partnership with Seefried Industrial Properties, Duke Realty, the Development Finance Authority of Summit County, and the Wood County Port Authority.
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 amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
