The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Officials laud Amazon’s success
City leaders remain grateful for multimillion dollar investment for Euclid Amazon Fulfillment Center
The Euclid Amazon Fulfillment Center employs more than 2,000 full-time, full-benefit associates.
Two Euclid leaders noted that figure is double what the multinational e-commerce tech hub initially sought to hire last year, just prior to its early September opening.
“We are thrilled that there are more jobs than originally projected and look forward to welcoming all new employees to the Euclid community,” said Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail, who added the center itself exceeded original size.
“Early projections were for a 650,000-square-foot facility and they built one measuring 850,000,” Gail said.
From an economic development standpoint, both the mayor and Planning and Development Director Jonathan Holody agree the opening of the center has helped stimulate boosts in local businesses, including restaurants and retail outlets, and promote growth in additional city projects, such as road improvements and controlled traffic flow.
“And we’ve continued to see that excitement and secondary success continue in just four months,” Holody said. “We’ve begun to see an uptick in brokers and business owners calling us. There are some great projects in the works, immediately surrounding the Amazon site.”
According to Amazon spokesman Andre Woodson, the fulfillment center currently employs hundreds of full-time associates who pick, pack and ship items to customers like electronics, books, housewares and toys.
“We’re proud to be growing and adding jobs across the globe,” Woodson said. “Throughout the year, on average, more than 90 percent of associates across the company’s fulfillment network are regular, full-time associates. We love being a part of the Cleveland community and see the continued demand from our customers to our low prices and great selection, and are building capacity to support the rapidly growing number of (Amazon) Prime members.”
Since entering Ohio in 2011, Amazon has invested more than $5 billion in the state through customer fulfillment, cloud infrastructure and compensation to its employees. Additionally, $2.5 billion has been added into the state’s gross domestic product, thanks to Amazon investments.
In addition, there are more than 43,500 charitable organizations in Ohio supported through AmazonSmile, Woodson added.
“On top of Amazon’s $15 minimum wage, the company offers full-time employees comprehensive healthcare benefits from day one, up to 20 weeks paid parental leave and Amazon’s innovative Career Choice program, which prepays 95 percent of tuition for courses in high-demand fields,” he said.
“Since the program’s launch four years ago, more than 25,000 employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.”
In addition, the company has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in-demand jobs.
Woodson said the programs will help “Amazonians” 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.
Consequently, Amazon also recently created another new program, helping interested employees launch their own package delivery businesses.
According to the company, an employee will leave their role at Amazon to build their business knowing they will have consistent delivery volume from Amazon, access to the company’s delivery technology, hands-on training and discounts on a suite of assets and services, including Amazon-branded vans customized for delivery, branded uniforms and comprehensive insurance.
The new incentive will fund the startup costs, up to $10,000, and will also provide financial support with a payment equal to three months of the former employee’s last gross salary while they build their new package delivery business.
“We received overwhelming interest from tens of thousands of individuals who applied to be part of the Delivery Service Partner program, including many employees,” stated Dave Clark, senior vice president of worldwide operations, in a news release.
“We’ve heard from associates that they want to participate in the program but struggled with the transition. Now we have a path for those associates with an appetite for opportunities to own their own businesses.”