Amazon Opening Third Distribution Center In Metro Detroit
SHELBY TOWNSHIP (WWJ) - A third Amazon distribution center is coming to metro Detroit, this time in northern Macomb County.
The online retailer announced its plans Thursday morning to open a new fulfillment center in Shelby Township. Amazon says the center will bring about 1,000 new full-time jobs when the site opens in 2018.
Officials say the 1-million-square-foot fulfillment center will ship and handle larger items ordered on line by customers, including household decor, sporting equipment and gardening tools.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said the center will be located at the site of the old Visteon plant on 23 Mile and Mound roads.
"When they looked at it, they realized, you know, you've got the 23 Mile Road, the Mound corridor, the Van Dyke expressway reaches up to 69, so I think it was just a multitude of factors that came into play. Cost was one, they were very adamant they wanted this 85-acre parcel here," he said.
No real groundbreaking date has been set, but Hackel said they're expected to move fast. Two other distribution centers are currently in the works -- one opening this fall in Livonia and the other opening next year in Romulus.
"Michigan has been a great place to do business for Amazon and we look forward to adding a new fulfillment center to better serve our customers in the region," Sanjay Shah, Amazon's vice president of North American operations, said in a statement. "The state has been a source of exceptional talent for Amazon, and we're proud to be creating great jobs with benefits for Michiganders."
Amazon says its full-time employees receive highly-competitive pay, health insurance, disability insurance, retirement savings plans and company stock. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of maternity and parental paid leave and innovative programs like Career Choice, where it pre-pays up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to an employee's career at Amazon.
"Everyone knows what an amazing success Amazon is, and, the fact that Amazon chose to expand its operations in Shelby Township, lets the world know Shelby Township has the services, infrastructure and ability to meet the needs of the top business organizations in the world," Township Supervisor Rick Stathakis said in a statement. "We look forward to the new tax revenue and the successful reclamation of this former industrial plant into a new, innovative, hi-tech distribution center adding more than 1,000 new jobs to our community."