Amazon fulfilling MCEDA vision of ready sites here
Text notification alerts about the availability of jobs at Mississippi’s third state-of-the-art Amazon fulfillment center set to open here this fall are available now.
Amazon hopes to begin hiring this summer at the site west of I-55 and Nissan Parkway off Mississippi 22 near Canton.
The Amazon fulfillment center is helping to fulfill Madison County Economic Development Director Joey Deason’s vision for jobs he laid out when he arrived four years ago.
Madison County has a lot of good qualities, but one thing it lacks is land ready and available for industrial development, Deason said back in February 2018 shortly after arriving on the job.
"We don't even get to play in a lot of the opportunities that the state has because we don't have land available," Deason told the Canton Rotary Club in February 2018 after about four months on the job.
MCEDA’s aim is to make more land available for development because that's what's necessary along with four-lane highways, water, electric, sewer and rail access, he said then.
And that Deason has done by growing the Madison County Megasite where Amazon is locating.
“Yes, the fulfillment center is still slated to open later this year,” said Amazon spokesperson Ashley Lansdale. “I should have updates on hiring later this summer.”
The facility should be substantially complete by August 2021, Deason said.
“Amazon is progressing and moving along at a fast pace,” he said.
The Journal first reported last July that the shipping giant had bought 69.02 acres at the Megasite.
In November, the company announced that the facility would bring as many as 1,000 full-time jobs to the state, which Lansdale confirmed Monday.
“Yes, the 1,000 new jobs number still stands,” Lansdale said.
The facility will be at least four stories and will house the majority of the sortable goods sold on Amazon.
Associates will pick, pack and ship customers’ orders alongside robots.
Amazon says this allows for a more efficient process that will enable them to more efficiently meet consumer demand.
Deason said that while anyone is waiting for the jobs to come available they can sign up for text notifications by texting MISSNOW to 77088.
“The preliminary process for hiring has begun with a text alert system,” Deason said.
Amazon fits within MCEDA’s vision to build a comprehensive marketing plan to help promote Madison County to key target markets like Amazon since the metro is sort of a crossroads between Dallas and Atlanta, Deason has said.
Madison County’s recruitment efforts focus on the advanced manufacturing, warehouse and distribution and data center sectors, a strategy Deason brought with him and his implemented.
With their 69 acres, Amazon is the initial tenant for the site.
Late last October, MCEDA and County officials announced the purchase of 520 acres within the Megasite.
This purchase brought the total acreage under Madison County’s control to 900 acres.
MCEDA has been working closely with Entergy Mississippi to put in a $60 million substation that could provide upwards of 80 megawatts to service the Megasite.
A megawatt of capacity will produce electricity that equates to about the same amount of electricity consumed by 400 to 900 homes in a year.