No more delays. Amazon is getting ready to open its new, massive fulfillment center in north Davenport and hire 1,000 workers to staff the long-awaited project.
That’s the word from Amazon and Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce officials, who confirmed to the QCBJ on Tuesday, May 9, that Amazon now plans to open the newly constructed, four-story, 2.9 million-square-foot Amazon Fulfillment Center in August.
“As part of our role as an economic development organization, the Quad Cities Chamber is continuing to work with Amazon as they prepare to open their facility in the Quad Cities,” Tami Petsche, vice president, Business & Economic Growth for the Quad Cities Chamber, said in an emailed statement.
“Amazon plans to open in August with the goal of hiring 1,000 employees,” she added. “The chamber helped facilitate a meeting with different workforce partners, including state workforce agencies and higher educational institutions in the region to provide an update on the positions they will be hiring at the Davenport facility.”
Late Tuesday, Amazon spokeswoman Erica Duncan confirmed in an email that the Davenport facility is expected to open in August.
The development is welcomed economic development news for the Quad Cities after the original opening date of summer 2022 was moved back last year to 2024 by Amazon.
Davenport city officials were pleased by the news, and especially happy with the many jobs the new Amazon facility will create.
“These will be good paying jobs that Davenport and Quad-City residents can live and raise a family on. I wish Amazon success going forward and look forward to more businesses opening soon in Davenport that continues to grow our local economy,” Davenport Alderman Robby Ortiz, Fourth Ward, told the QCBJ on Wednesday, May 10.
As of Wednesday morning, it did not appear jobs for the new Amazon center in Davenport were listed on amazon.jobs.
The new Amazon robotics fulfillment center has been in the works for the past couple of years near Interstate 80 on the north edge of Davenport. The new facility sits on a 158-acre site in the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center (EICC). Its address is 2022 Research Parkway.
The huge facility was originally set to open in the late summer of 2022, but in May 2022 a spokesperson for Amazon reported that completion of the center was being pushed back to some time in 2024.
At that time, Caitlin Polochak, regional public relations manager for Amazon, declined to be more specific about when the building – which boasts a 640,000-square-foot footprint – would be finished and hiring would begin. But she did stress in a statement to the QCBJ then that Amazon remains committed to the Quad Cities.
“We know the Davenport community is excited about the opportunities we’ll be bringing to the area, and we look forward to sharing new timing along with information about the great jobs,” Ms. Polochak said in a statement last May.
Business officials blamed several factors for the project’s delay. In addition to supply chain challenges, multiple reports over the past year and Amazon’s own quarterly reports show the company challenged by worker shortages, inflation, work stoppages and increased trucking costs that have impacted both Amazon and its customers, including its 310 million active users and 200 million prime subscribers.
The company first revealed plans to build its second Iowa robotics fulfillment center in Davenport on July 7, 2021. The project was announced during a news conference with representatives from the City of Davenport, Quad Cities Chamber and Greater Davenport Redevelopment Corporation (GDRC), a non-profit organization that owns the available EICC sites.
Amazon’s entry into the Quad Cities got its start when a site selection firm contacted the chamber in November 2020 seeking sites in the bi-state region for an unnamed client, Paul Rumler, then president and CEO of the chamber, said in July 2021. A number of factors led Amazon to choose the Quad Cities, the former QC leader said.
Construction of the massive distribution center has been underway since late 2021. The anticipated 1,000-person workforce will pick, pack and ship items to Amazon’s global online buyers. With that size workforce, chamber leaders have said it will be one of the Quad Cities region’s Top 15 employers.
