Amazon opening date finally revealed; target is mid-2020

The specter of Amazon’s massive fulfillment center has loomed above the West Plains for months, but local residents have remained in the dark as to when the warehouse might open for business.

That opening date is at least a little clearer now, with an Amazon spokesperson announcing this week that the fulfillment center will be up and running sometime in mid-2020.

Amazon originally expected the center to be functional by October ahead of the holiday rush. Amazon officials have said that launches tend to take place between one and two years after the initial building announcement.

The $181 million, four-story facility, which has been slowly taking shape for more than a year, will be one of the largest buildings in Eastern Washington at more than 2.5 million square feet.

The company will hire 1,500 people to start, with the possibility to double that number in the future thanks to additional holiday shifts. Workers will work alongside tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Amazon Robotics to pack and ship a variety of products.

Hiring for those positions has reportedly not yet begun, but Amazon leaders say the starting wage for those hired is $15 per hour with full medical, vision and dental insurance and a 401(k) with 50 percent match, as well as maternity and paternity leave. 

The hiring process is set to start one to two months ahead of the fulfillment center’s official launch, so job hunters could find open positions at the tech giant as early as next spring.

Earlier this week, Amazon announced a company-wide hiring spree at locations across the nation with the intent of hiring more than 30,000 people by early next year.

Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].