#Colorado
Securing its future in the city, Amazon has bought land at the Colorado Springs Airport where it will build a 4-million-square-foot distribution and sorting center, a commercial project that will be one of the city’s biggest ever and one that could propel additional development at the airport’s business park.
Amazon.com Services, the company’s distribution arm, paid $6.33 million to Colorado Springs for 69.2 acres in the Colorado Springs Airport’s Peak Innovation Park, where it plans to build the center. Contractors began site preparation work on the site weeks ago, with construction expected to begin next month.
In a news release, Amazon said the center will employ more than 1,000 people in full-time positions starting at $15 an hour with benefits. The center will ship customer orders for books, electronics, toys and other smaller items to the Colorado Springs area, across the rest of the state and to surrounding states. The Seattle-based company said it keeps “the timing of our building launches flexible,” but plans filed in October with the city of Colorado Springs indicated the building would be completed early next year.
An Amazon spokeswoman said in an email that the company selected Colorado Springs for the center because of its dedicated workforce, “great local support” and the need to meet customer demand with fulfillment centers close to customers so it can offer fast delivery — within an hour or two for some merchandise.
The company expects to be able to recruit employees, she said, because its minimum wage is $3 an hour higher than Colorado’s minimum and Amazon offers benefits that includes medical, dental and vision plans and paid parental leave. Amazon also offers a training program to help employees move into higher-paying jobs in its corporate offices and technology hubs or pursue careers outside Amazon, including health care, information technology, game design and visual communications.
