OKC approves Amazon incentives
Company to begin hiring for more than 1,700 jobs in the coming weeks
Amazon is set to begin hiring for more than 1,700 job openings related to its new fulfillment center in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City Economic Development Project Manager Brent Bryant told the city council Tuesday the company plans to begin the hiring process for the new $140 million center in the next four to six weeks.
Construction is about 75 percent complete at the site near Will Rogers World Airport, at SW 89 and Portland Avenue, Bryant said.
The center is expected to be operational as early as the third quarter 2019.
Amazon's fulfillment centers are a starting point for customers' delivery following an online order.
Once an order is placed, that inventory is plucked from storage at a fulfillment center and begins the delivery process. An Amazon Sortation Center and an Amazon Delivery Center already are operational in Oklahoma City.
The council gave final approval to award Amazon $1 million in job-creation incentives and agreed to spend up to $700,000 on road and other improvements along SW 89, Portland and Interstate 44.
The council's vote was 5-2.
Ward 1 Councilman James Greiner voted “no,” and said later that the $1 million for 53 qualifying jobs, at an average annual wage of $60,000, was “out of whack” with per-job amounts usually offered by the city.
Most jobs at the center will pay much lower wages.
Ward 2 Councilman Ed Shadid also voted “no,” saying taxpayers would be on the hook for interest on money borrowed and given to Amazon. He called it “Santa Clausian economics.”
“They were going to do this whether we gave them $1.7 million or not,” he said. “We'll pay interest on it for 20 years, to give to Amazon, one of the richest companies on earth, headed by one of the richest men on earth.”
Capital investment from Amazon is expected to be about $153 million.
Estimated economic impact of the incentivized portion of the project is $9.5 million over the first two years of operation.
Local sales tax and property revenue is estimated at $2.6 million over the first two years. Estimated economic impact of the entire Amazon project for the first two years exceeds $129 million.
Amazon announced earlier this year it plans to add a second Oklahoma fulfillment center in Tulsa.
Similar in size, the company expects to employ about 1,500. A report by The Tulsa World revealed the facility will be built on an 82-acre property near 43rd Street North and 129th East Avenue and includes an estimated $130 million capital investment.
Amazon's existing Oklahoma City Sortation Center is a $3 million, 300,000-square-foot-facility at SW 15 and Council Road. Sorting centers are used to organize packaged items before final delivery to customers.
Amazon recently completed a 60,000-squarefoot delivery center at 4401 E Hefner Road. The warehouse is designed to receive packages, sort for delivery and then load onto vans for the “last mile” delivery.
Completion of the fulfillment center is expected to bring sameday delivery options to the Oklahoma City area.