Amazon will be opening its first fulfillment center in Little Rock in 2021.
The fulfillment center, a 825,000-square-foot facility, will be located along Zeuber Road at the Port of Little Rock. Little Rock’s Board of Directors approved the sale of 80 acres to the online retailer in early April. The sale was worth $3.2 million, as Arkansas Money & Politics reported.
This facility will use both human and robotic labor to “pick, pack and ship small items” for Amazon customers. According to a Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce news release, the facility is expected to create more than 1,000 full-time positions.
“We’re delighted to be building out our network of operations in Little Rock, Arkansas,” Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, said in a statement. “We greatly appreciate the strong support from local and state leaders as we look to open our first fulfillment center and second delivery station in the state of Arkansas. We look forward to creating over a thousand jobs for the Little Rock community, with industry leading pay and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.”
On Monday, July 6, local and state officials announced $11 million in public infrastructure efforts for roadway improvement and construction at the Port of Little Rock. Of that total, $5 million has been earmarked for widening and improving Zeuber Road. The other $6 million will be used for roadway and intersection improvements to increase the port’s transportation capacity, particularly for new companies, such as Amazon and CZ-USA.
The Port of Little Rock facility is not the only project Amazon has in the Little Rock area. The company will be opening a distribution center, reportedly at 2401 Interstate 30. The 85,000-square-foot delivery station is expected to be operational by late 2020.
In addition, there is an Amazon distribution center in North Little Rock, which opened in 2018 as a concept for “last mile deliveries.”
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