HQ bid not tied to distribution centre: Amazon
‘We continue to be optimistic’: Notley
CALGARY It’ s not the ultimate $5- billion employment prize Calgary covets, but Amazon’s decision to build a massive distribution centre just outside the city can only help persuade the e-commerce giant to locate its next headquarters here, said the bid’s backers.
Amazon confirmed the construction of a 600,000-square-foot warehouse at Balzac that will create 750 full-time jobs at a Thursday news conference attended by Premier Rachel Notley. The facility — Amazon calls them “fulfilment centres” — is expected to open next fall. Workers there will receive, sort and ship online orders for customers across the country.
The announcement came one week after Calgary Economic Development submitted a well-publicized bid to persuade Amazon to locate its second North American headquarters in the city. The Seattle-based company has said its search — which attracted 238 submissions — could bring up to 50,000 jobs and a total investment of $5 billion to the successful city.
“I think one thing that this announcement can say to some naysayers out there and anyone who dismissed the possibility of Alberta — either Edmonton or Calgary — being able to compete in a meaningful way in the Amazon headquarters selection process ... Amazon knows exactly where we are, and they know exactly what the benefits of this province are,” said Notley. “We certainly continue to be optimistic.”
Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax and Ottawa have also submitted bids. A decision is expected next year.
Amazon spokeswoman Ashley Robinson stressed the distribution centre is unrelated to any decision on the company’s so-called HQ2 competition. “These are two separate and very independent processes. We determined a fulfilment centre for this particular location because of customer demand. When we’re looking at locations for a headquarters, that’s a different set of requirements and priorities.”
Amazon already operates six warehouses employing 2,000 people in Canada — two in Vancouver and four in the Greater Toronto Area. The Balzac facility will be its second-largest in Canada, exceeded only by an automated, 800,000-square-foot operation in Brampton, Ont.
Glenn Sommerville, Amazon’s director of Canadian operations, said the new positions will offer competitive wages and comprehensive benefits, including stock options and performance bonuses. Most jobs will be traditional shipping and receiving positions, with some related support work, he said.
The company also offers a program that pays up to 95 per cent of tuition costs for employees returning to school to pursue any indemand career. More than 10,000 Amazon employees are enrolled in the program, said Sommerville.
“We want to be a good neighbour, a good employer and a good economic driver for the region,” he said.
Hiring is expected to begin next summer.
Mary Moran, CEO of Calgary Economic Development, said Amazon’s arrival will help attract other companies to the region, adding her organization has approached the company about other opportunities beyond HQ2.
“Some really interesting things are happening in Calgary from a technological perspective that will help advance companies,” she said.
Amazon will also grow Rocky View County’s reputation as a transportation and logistics hub. Walmart, Canadian National Railway and Empire Company, which owns Sobeys, are among companies with warehouse operations in the county north of Calgary.
Reeve Greg Boehlke said the county two years ago set a tax ratio target of 65 per cent residential to 35 per cent non-residential by 2035. The non-residential component today accounts for 27 per cent of the county’s tax base, he said.
“Any non-residential is a good windfall, but non-residential of this stature, and this magnitude, of course, is astronomical,” Boehlke said. “It’s going to move us in that direction.”
We determined a fulfilment centre for this particular location because of customer demand. When we’re looking at locations for a headquarters, that’s a different set of requirements and priorities.