From WCTV.tv
Project Mango in Tallahassee will be the 14th Amazon fulfillment center in the Sunshine State once it’s complete. The Amazon robotics sortation fulfillment center is coming to the Mahan Drive/I-10 interchange in Leon County.
An economic development policy manager for Amazon spoke to business leaders at Wednesday morning’s annual Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce breakfast.
The facility in eastern Leon County is set to employ 1,000 people full-time, along with hundreds of part-time and seasonal employees. Amazon has invested $200 million in capital for the project.
“We contribute $18 billion to the GDP of Florida, so we are proud to call Florida home. We’re proud to be investing in Florida, and we’re excited now to expand that into Tallahassee,” Amazon economic development policy manager Sam Blatt said as he spoke to local businesses.
Blatt said the facility is Amazon’s most expensive and it’s equipped with advanced technology. Associates will work on the first two floors doing sorting, while robots handle operations on the top four floors.
“It’s basically like a Roomba with a giant stack of products on top of it,” Blatt said.
The facility will be 2.9 million square feet in total, with a 635,000 square feet footprint.
City Commissioner Dianne Williams-Cox and Mayor John Dailey hope the development will be a big economic boost for Tallahassee.
“This will attract more people to come to Tallahassee, want to move to Tallahassee, and also have employment for those of us who are already here,” Williams-Cox said.
“As I have said as mayor of Tallahassee since Day one: We are open for business. We are thrilled to have Amazon here in our community. They are going to be great community partners,” Dailey said.
At the Project Mango site, 25% of the land is reserved for green space. Employees will have a minimum starting wage of $15 per hour. Blatt also talked about the benefits provided by Amazon’s Career Choice Program.
“You get 100% prepaid tuition if you work at Amazon for at least three months. That ranges from getting an HVAC technician certificate or being an electrician, or plumber, all the way up to an advanced degree in nursing or computer science,” Blatt said.
In addition to available jobs, Blatt pointed to opportunities for small businesses to be Amazon suppliers. His presentation listed packaging, information technology, professional services, and construction materials as possibilities.
Blatt added that the development of Project Mango is moving quickly. Amazon hopes to have the fulfillment center up and running by late 2022 or possibly early 2023.
Amazon has purchased another tract of land for Project Cyprus, which is within the city limits. Blatt said Wednesday Amazon has not decided yet what to put there.
