Amazon is building a robotics fulfillment center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Gov. John Bel Edwards announced Wednesday, a move he said would strengthen the state and city's economy.
Amazon plans to make a $200 million capital investment in the plant, which is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs in the city.
The facility will be built on the grounds of the former Cortana Mall, a site that is strategically located to let the company make faster deliveries to in-state customers and to those in the Gulf Coast region. Amazon also operates a delivery station in the city.
“Louisiana has a long and storied history as a leading state for the shipping and transport of goods,” Edwards said in a statement. “The new jobs and opportunities created by this project will be a tremendous value to Baton Rouge and the entire state.”
The project is expected to create over 1,000 full-time jobs that have a starting salary of $15 per hour plus benefits. Amazon employees will pick, pack and ship smaller customer orders while robots will perform other tasks aimed at speeding up order processing.
Construction has already started and the plant is scheduled to open by December 2022. Employee hiring is expected to begin in the summer of 2022.
Early last year, Louisiana Economic Development began formal discussions with Amazon about a potential fulfillment center at the former mall site. The state offered the company an incentive package, which included using
“We’re excited to be growing our operations in the capital city of Louisiana and want to thank the local community and all of the state and local leaders for their support in making this project possible,” said Bri Tye, regional director of operations at Amazon.
The new facility will be tied in with a similar center in Shreveport, making them the two biggest of the eight Amazon facilities that are operating or planned for in Louisiana. More than 14,500 businesses in the state participate in Amazon’s fulfillment network.
“This is the one we’ve been waiting for,” said Adam Knapp, president and CEO of Baton Rouge Area Chamber. “Amazon’s project is transformational, both for creating a thousand jobs and serving as a model of intentional economic development.”
