WICHITA, Kansas. October 19, 2020 (AP) — Amazon is planning to build two fulfillment centers in Kansas and says the centers will create a combined 1,000 jobs — 500 in each location. The online retailer announced the expansion Friday, with new one-million-square-foot centers in Kansas City, Kansas, and in Park City, near Wichita. Both are expected to open next year.
Amazon already operates more than 110 fulfillment centers across North America, and already has one in Kansas City, Kansas, as well as in the Kansas towns of Lenexa and Edgerton. Amazon also recently selected a Wichita site for another distribution center. That 140,000-square-foot delivery station opens later this year.
“We’re excited to continue our growth and investment across Kansas so we can better serve our customers throughout the state,” Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the strong support we’ve received from local and state leaders, and we look forward to ingraining ourselves in the communities in which we serve.”
Online retail giant Amazon says it has purchased land for the $200 million facility it plans to build in Sioux Falls. The Seattle-based retailer will build the facility in the Foundation Park industrial area in the northwestern part of the city. “This land purchase in Sioux Falls provides us with the flexibility to quickly respond to our future network needs,” spokeswoman Kirsten Wenker said in a statement Thursday.
“And we look forward to becoming a member of the South Dakota community in the future.” As part of a grant application sent by city officials to the U.S. Economic Development Administration, Amazon leadership submitted plans for a facility that would bring 1,000 jobs to the community. The facility itself could as big as 1 million square feet, set for an 80-acre parcel of land in the industrial park, the Argus Leader reported.
The City Council in September approved the designation of a tax increment financing district for a swath of land that includes the future Amazon site and stretches north to undeveloped portions of the industrial park. A TIF is a tool used by municipal governments to finance development projects or other investments using the anticipation of future tax revenue resulting from new development.
