Amazon will invest nearly $30 million to open a new distribution center in Mobile, just off of Interstate 10, which will open later this year.
Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson applauded the announcement saying, “Amazon is one of the most successful and innovative companies in the world, and we could not be more excited to welcome their first major location in Alabama. Mobile is open for business, and the best is yet to come.”
Made in Alabama announced Friday that Amazon’s new Mobile “sortation center” will be 362,000-square-feet and allow the massive online retailer to speed up deliveries to customers who purchase products online through Amazon.
Amazon says the center will eventually employ over 360 part-time employees. However, during busy seasons like the Christmas holidays, that number could rise to 1,000 part-time employees.
Ashley Robinson, strategic communications manager for Amazon, said, “There are a lot of contributing factors that go into our thought process on where to place a new customer fulfillment or sortation center. Most importantly, we want to make sure our facilities are placed as close to the customer as possible to ensure we can offer a great Prime service and fast shipping speeds to customers. We also look at the workforce and we’ve found great talent in abundance in Mobile County.”
Since early this year, an economic development team comprised of the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce, the Alabama Department of Commerce, the Mobile County Commission, and the City of Mobile have been working to solidify this distribution center, which Made in Alabama reports as a partnership between Amazon and Johnson Development Associates.
“This will be the first Alabama hub for Amazon’s vast distribution network, and we will work with the Internet retailer and our allies in Mobile to develop a partnership that can lead to other opportunities over time. Having a world-class company like Amazon making a significant investment in Alabama is always a positive development,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
Troy Wayman, the Mobile Chamber’s vice president of economic development, added that this announcement by Amazon points to the strength of Mobile’s distribution infrastructure and workforce that continues to draw the attention of large companies, just as it’s done with Walmart.
Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl summed it up well when he said, “This helps America and the world know that Mobile is a great place to do business.”
