Amazon selects sunny locale for latest fulfillment center

Amazon’s latest supply chain hub will be located in Florida.

The e-tail giant plans to open a more than 1 million-sq.-ft. fulfillment center in Auburndale, Fla. Employees there will pick, pack and ship large customer items, such as sports equipment, patio furniture, fishing rods, pet food, kayaks, bicycles, and larger household goods. The project is being developed by Prologis.

When the site opens, Amazon will create more than 500 new, full-time jobs starting at $15 an hour with benefits starting on day one. Amazon says it currently employs more than 13,500 full-time employees throughout the state of Florida.

“We are excited to join the Auburndale community and create more than 500 new, full-time jobs with industry-leading pay and benefits at our newest fulfillment center in the state,” said Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s VP of global customer fulfillment. “Florida has been a source of exceptional talent for Amazon and the Sunshine state is an ideal location to provide great selection, competitive prices and superfast shipping speeds to Floridians.”

In addition, Amazon has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in-demand jobs. All associates will go through hours of safety training and have access to continuing education opportunities through Amazon’s upskilling programs such as Career Choice. In this program, the company will pre-pay up to 95% 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, Amazon says more than 25,000 employees have pursued degrees in fields including game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming, and radiology.