Amazon.com Inc. is continuing its investment in metro Detroit, announcing a plan Monday to bring five new facilities and more than 2,000 jobs to the area.
The permanent full- and part-time jobs are expected to carry a minimum $15 hourly wage and comprehensive benefits that will start the same day the new employee does.
Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, said the company is “excited to be expanding our network” to better serve customers in Detroit.
“We are grateful for the strong support we’ve received from local and state leaders as we broaden our footprint throughout Michigan,” Davis said. “We look forward to bringing more than 2,000 good jobs to Metro Detroit and contributing positively to the community.”
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, in a statement released by Amazon, said the city is “thrilled” Amazon selected Detroit for “what will be one of the largest fulfillment centers in Michigan.”
“Amazon has been a great partner and its most important delivery will be the 3,000 construction jobs, 1,200 permanent jobs and new small business opportunities this new facility will bring to our city,” Duggan said.
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As Amazon grows in Detroit, it is committed to contributing in a variety of ways to the local community where our teams live and work, including by supporting food banks with monetary contributions and delivery services, funding computer science education for underserved and underrepresented students, and providing in-kind donations to meet immediate and basic needs.
Most recently, Amazon donated $100,000 to the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD) to help the district enhance its science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs and expand its resources.
Beyond the donation, Amazon plans to support the school’s STEM programs with hands-on learning and mentorship opportunities in the coming year.
“Amazon’s investment in our expanding Career Academy work with a focus on STEM will allow students to continue to experience a more relevant high school education,” said Dr. Nikolai Vitti, Detroit Public Schools Community District’s superintendent. “We are continuing to see more companies recognize that there is a shared responsibility in ensuring that career pathways are developed at the high school level and through the traditional public school system to ensure that the greatest number of students in the city can actualize their talent. When this happens, students, companies, and the city all benefit.”
In total, Amazon invested over $2.5 million in 2020 to multiple nonprofit organizations in the region, including:
- Beaumont Children’s Center
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit
- Cass Community Social Services Inc.
- COTS of Detroit Forgotten Harvest
- Friends of Animals Detroit
- Forgotten Harvest
- Matrix Human Services
On one of the five new sites, Amazon plans to open a new 823,000 square-foot fulfillment center in Detroit, creating 1,200 new full-time jobs when it launches in 2021. The site will be the fourth fulfillment center in the state using Amazon robotics to help associates pick, pack and ship smaller items to customers.
The other four sites include a same-day facility, XL fulfillment center and two sortation centers that play critical roles in the fulfillment of large products and “middle mile,” or the process of transporting packages between Amazon sites before last mile delivery for customers. Packages are shipped to sort centers from Amazon Air hubs, gateways and fulfillment centers to be sorted by zip code before being transported to delivery stations or last-mile delivery partners for customer delivery.
In 2021, Amazon’s new fulfillment and sortation centers in Detroit include:
- Detroit – Amazon Robotics Fulfillment Center.
- Hazel Park – Sub-Same-Day Fulfillment Center.
- Pinnacle Park – Amazon “XLFC” Fulfillment Center.
- Pinnacle Park – Amazon Sort Center.
- Plymouth – Amazon Sort Center.
- Pontiac – Amazon Robotics Fulfillment Center.
Amazon currently operates 10 sites in Detroit that support customer fulfillment and delivery operations, including four facilities that launched in 2020.
“With this deal, we are able to appropriately redevelop the Pinnacle property – adding roughly 1,000 new jobs for local residents while expanding our tax base at the same time,” said Wayne County Executive Warren Evans. “When I took office, I made it a priority to repurpose the land in a more productive way that made sense for the location. Working in collaboration with Huron Township leaders and Detroit Aerotropolis, my team identified a new approach for the site that was both economically viable and consistent with the community’s vision. I’m pleased that Amazon agrees that Pinnacle is a prime location for a world-class logistics and distribution facility that will put Wayne County residents to work.”
“Huron Township welcomes the creation of approximately 1,000 jobs the Amazon facilities offer. This Amazon project will serve to jump-start additional economic growth that will make up a much larger comprehensive mixed use development planned for this area,” said David Glaab, Huron Township Supervisor. “This investment will serve to bolster and compliment the efforts of the Detroit Region Aerotropolis in its mission to attract advanced manufacturing, next generation mobility and emerging technologies to this region.”
Amazon has also pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in-demand jobs, and in 2020 it promoted more than 35,000 associates in its operations network. The upskilling programs will help Amazon team members from all backgrounds access training to move into highly skilled roles across the company’s corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retail stores and transportation network, or pursue career paths in high-demand fields outside of Amazon.
