Amazon Opens Oklahoma Fulfillment Center
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Amazon’s newest facility, in Oklahoma City, received its first package Aug. 25.
The Amazon fulfillment center is the first of its kind in Oklahoma. It functions as a hub for storage and delivery of products shipped through Amazon and works in conjunction with existing Amazon delivery and sortation centers in the metro area.
“We are thrilled to open our first fulfillment center in Oklahoma and become a member of this incredible community,” fulfillment center General Manager Hamon Gupta said.
The fulfillment center is a nearly 640,000-square-foot facility on a 69-acre lot. A combination of employees and robotic machines work in tandem to pack and ship products within the warehouse.
Packages also make their way through Amazon sorting and delivery centers before final delivery to consumers.
Krisztian Bocsi/Bloomberg News
With the completion of this fulfillment center, same-day delivery service is expected to be added within a 40-mile radius, according to Kevin Connelly, logistics director of Amazon’s North America operations.
The company issued a statement Aug. 26 saying the center will ramp up operations over the next few weeks, and the capability for same-day delivery will come during that time.
Amazon received $1 million in job-creation incentives from the city for the facility and an additional $700,000 in road and other improvements along SW 89, Portland Avenue and Interstate 44.
Amazon Senior Manager of Economic Development Tom Florino told city officials the company expected to hire more than 1,700, including 53 managerial positions when seeking approval for the economic incentives.
Capital investment from Amazon was expected to be nearly $153 million, and the 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 also is planning 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 and includes an estimated $130 million capital investment.
