Amazon Plans Ohio Expansion with Two Robotics Fulfillment Centers
The two new fulfillment centers will be developed in Akron and Rossford and will each total approximately 700,000 square feet.
AKRON, OH—E-commerce giant Amazon reports it plans to open two new robotics fulfillment centers in Ohio that will create more than 2,500 full-time jobs once operational and will total a combined 1.4 million square feet.
The two new fulfillment centers will be developed in Akron and Rossford and will each total approximately 700,000 square feet. The 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.
“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,” says Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s VP 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,” says Ohio Gov. 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.”
Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $5 billion in Ohio 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.
In May, Amazon opened its new fulfillment center in Phoenix.
Each fulfillment center will be used to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys. All associates will go through 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% 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, more than 25,000 employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.
Amazon has pledged to invest more than $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in demand jobs. Programs will help Amazon employees 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.