SEATTLE, 2016-Jun-02 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced plans to open two fulfillment centers in Edwardsville, Illinois, and create more than 1,000 full-time jobs between the facilities when they open. The company also recently announced plans for a new fulfillment center in Joliet, Illinois, and the creation of 2,000 full-time jobs. Amazon has an existing fulfillment center in Joliet where it currently employs 1,500 full-time employees.
“Illinois has been a great place to do business for Amazon and we look forward to adding two additional fulfillment centers and creating another 1,000 full-time jobs with benefits on day one in the state,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North American operations. “The elected officials throughout the city and state have been very supportive of Amazon and we thank them for helping make this possible. We’re excited to soon callEdwardsville home and become an active member of this vibrant community.”
“Amazon’s newest investment in Illinois is a commitment to the future of our state,” Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner said. “Amazon brings more than a thousand great paying jobs to Madison County and strengthens Illinois’ position as a national hub for distribution and logistics. We are excited Amazonhas again chosen our state and continues to be a growing partner in economic development in the Land of Lincoln. This growth represents the type of results possible when state economic development is focused on a long-term strategy, as the newly formed ILBEDC is doing with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.”
Both fulfillment centers will span more than 700,000 square-feet each where employees will pick, pack and ship items for customers. One of the buildings will specialize in handling larger items like big-screen televisions, sports equipment or kayaks and the other building will handle smaller items such as books, toys and electronics.
Full-time employees at Amazon receive competitive hourly wages and a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare, 401(k) and company stock awards starting on day one, as well as generous maternity and parental leave benefits.
Amazon also offers employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where it will pre-pay 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, employees are pursuing degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.
Mayor Hal Patton of Edwardsville stated, “We would like to thank Amazon for selecting Edwardsville as the location for their newest fulfillment centers. The construction of these two enormous warehouse buildings in the Gateway and Lakeview Commerce Centers will employ hundreds of construction professionals and bring over 1,000 full-time jobs to our region. The professional staffs from the City of Edwardsville, Madison County and the State of Illinois worked seamlessly with our local developers to deliver a much needed employment opportunity for our talented workforce. We are excited to showAmazon the quality of life that makes Edwardsville a great place to live, work and play.”
Madison County Board Chairman Alan J. Dunstan applauded the news from Amazon. He said Madison County’s premiere location and transportation network was key to attracting one of the world’s largest e-commerce retailers. “We are excited that Amazon is coming to Madison County. We look forward to them becoming part of our community and we welcome the job opportunities for our residents.”
Amazon is now hiring for management positions at the Edwardsville fulfillment centers. Additional details can be found at www.amazondelivers.jobs. To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, visit www.workatamazonfulfillment.com.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company 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.
Source: Amazon.com, Inc.
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