Amazon to hire at least 1,000 at new Troutdale facility

Jon Bell, Portland Business Journal, KGW Article Source

TROUTDALE, Ore. — Online retail giant Amazon plans to hire at least 1,000 workers for its planned distribution center in Troutdale.

Word first came out publicly during a recent meeting of the Troutdale City Council. Up until then, negotiations between the city and Amazon had been governed by strict non-disclosure agreements and spoke only of a “Project Piper.”

At the council meeting, held May 23 and available in audio format on the city’s web site, Troutdale’s finance director Erich Mueller said Amazon had committed to 1,050 full-time employees at the 855,000-square-foot site, but the actual number will likely be double that. The employee count will rise even higher on a seasonal basis around the holidays. Backing up that assumption are plans that show 2,200 parking spaces for the facility.

According to the Gresham Outlook, Amazon plans to invest $178.4 million in the robotics fulfillment center, and the company will receive a five-year tax abatement worth close to $9.6 million.

Gov. Kate Brown will make a “major jobs announcement” in Troutdale tomorrow, according to a press advisory. The advisory does not mention Amazon, but the site for the announcement is located where the new center is to be built.

Earlier this year, Trammell Crow Company purchased more than 73 acres of land in the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park from the Port of Portland for $20 million. The company will develop the new center for Amazon and sign a long-term lease with the online retailer. Work should break ground later this year and wrap up in 2018.

According to Mueller, Amazon already employs about 1,000 people in Oregon, most of them in distribution roles, though it also has data center employees in Oregon as well. Last November, the Business Journal reported that Amazon had signed a lease for 303,360-square-feet of industrial space in the Majestic Brookwood Business Park in Hillsboro. The company had planned to hire close to 1,000 permanent and seasonal workers for that center, which began operating in November.