Amazon will invest nearly $30 million in a new 362,000-square-foot “sortation center” in Mobile, AL. Scheduled to open later this year, the facility will allow the Internet retailer to accelerate deliveries of products purchased online. The center will be located in west Mobile off Interstate 10 and ultimately employ more than 360 part-time employees — during busy periods the number of workers could rise to 1,000.
“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,” said Ashley Robinson, strategic communications manager for Amazon. “We also look at the workforce and we’ve found great talent in abundance in Mobile County.”
The Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce started working with the Alabama Department of Commerce, Mobile County Commission and the City of Mobile on this project in early 2017. The center is 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,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce. “Having a world-class company like Amazon making a significant investment in Alabama is always a positive development.”
The Amazon project represents another example of how the area’s distribution infrastructure and workforce continue to draw the attention of international companies, according to Troy Wayman, the Mobile Chamber’s vice president of economic development.
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