Amazon To Open First Illinois Facility, Hire 1,000
CHICAGO (CBS/AP) -- Online retailer Amazon will be building a $75 million distribution center in Illinois, and investing in 1,000 full-time jobs, creating its first facility in the state.
Amazon was conducting a site selection process to find a location for the warehouse, and the Chicago area was being considered, but Vice President Paul Misener suggested it would be just one of possibly several facilities the company eventually would build in Illinois.
"This process is going to take some time, but we want to begin it starting now, with the goal of having a first facility opening up and running here in Illinois next year," Misener said. "You're right to say sites. That's the key part. There will be a variety of facilities around the state, and certainly we're looking in this area, but elsewhere around the state as well."
The move means Amazon will have to start collecting sales taxes on Illinois sales once the center is open next year, but Amazon vice president Paul Misener said that should not be an issue.
"We will collect when it's required by law," he said. "We collect sales tax, or its equivalent, in well over 50 percent of the jurisdictions in which we operate around the world, and we're doing quite fine."
Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said the state's central location in the U.S., its status as a major transportation hub, and its available workforce played major roles in Amazon's decision to open a warehouse in Illinois.
The company plans to open the facility next year, and hire 1,000 full-time workers by 2017.
"The goal is to get to 2017 with something like 1,000 full-time jobs, with benefits; and $75 million in capital investment," he said. "But you have to recognize that this is a starting point, alright? We want to build a long-term relationship with the state."
Quinn used the Amazon announcement to highlight a one-year drop in unemployment in Illinois, from 9.1 percent last September to 6.6 percent this September, marking the lowest unemployment rate in the state in six years.