Amazon.com, Inc. will invest $250 million to open a new fulfillment center in the city of Pflugerville, TX. The site, which is anticipated to launch in 2021, will create 1,000 new full-time jobs.
“We’re appreciative of the people of Texas for so warmly embracing Amazon into the community,” said Alicia Boler Davis, Amazon’s vice president of global customer fulfillment. “There are now over 20,000 Texan Amazonians working for us in the state – and we’re excited to be creating an additional 1,000 full-time jobs in Pflugerville with Amazon’s industry leading benefits, and minimum starting wage from $15 an hour.”
At the new 820,000-square-foot fulfillment center employees will work alongside Amazon robotics to pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and toys.
“Serving our great city is an honor, and I am excited to see Pflugerville’s continued growth during my service in office,” said Mayor Victor Gonzales. “Pflugerville is a bustling area, and the addition of this fulfillment center with over 1,000 jobs shows that Pflugerville is the new frontier in Central Texas. Pflugerville’s connectivity via the SH 130 corridor is a prime location for business expansion, and we welcome Amazon, a business that shares our belief that Pflugerville is a wonderful place to live and work.”
The Pflugerville Community Development Corporation (PCDC) is funding up to $3.8 million to the City of Pflugerville for transportation improvements, according to Amy Madison, PCDC Executive Director. The improvements will provide operational advantages, including the construction of a crossover, displaced left-turn lane which is the first of its kind in Pflugerville to enhance traffic mobility along the Pecan Street Corridor. The construction is expected to be completed by July 2021 and will be paid to the city out of PCDC encumbered funds in fiscal years 2021 and 2022. Amazon is required to begin operations on or before December 31, 2022.
“Prior to this project, the 94 acres where Amazon is locating were not in the city limits and provided no tax base,” Madison explained. “We are entering into a binding agreement to provide additional infrastructure improvements benefitting all businesses and residents in exchange for Amazon’s commitment to creating jobs and providing a substantial annual tax base for the city.”
The PCDC is funding the transportation improvements with a half-cent sales tax set aside for economic development to allow the previously unfunded city road improvement to occur without directly impacting local property taxes or the one-cent sales tax collected by the city.
Madison added that Amazon has already had a positive impact on the Pflugerville community. During the early construction phase, the project has generated sales tax and paid permit fees that have offset the significant declines from other city revenue sources due to the COVID-19 pandemic and contributed to the city’s current 15.7% year-over-year growth in overall sales tax from FY19.
Since 2010, Amazon has invested more than $10.5 billion into its local fulfillment center infrastructure and through compensation to thousands of employees in Texas. Amazon’s investments in Texas contributed an additional $9 billion to the state’s economy. Using methodology developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Amazon estimates its investments in the state have created more than 32,000 indirect jobs on top of the company’s direct hires.
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