Amazon plans Holyoke distribution center, with ‘hundreds’ of job openings expected

Amazon hosts grand opening at Troutdale robotics facility

Amazon plans a distribution center in Holyoke. Here, packages move during the grand opening and media tour for the one-year anniversary of the robotics fulfillment center in Troutdale, Oregon, Aug. 1, 2019. Brooke Herbert/The Oregonian

HOLYOKE — Amazon will open a distribution center in the city this fall and plans to hire “hundreds” to staff it, Mayor Alex B. Morse announced Thursday.

The online retailer, which is transitioning to its own distribution system and away from vendors like the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx, will build the center at 161 Lower Westfield Road. The site is the former home of the Paolo Freire Social Justice Charter School and Atlas Copco.

Amazon has a fulfillment centers in Windsor, Connecticut, and in Everett, Fall River and Stoughton, Massachusetts.

The city’s Planning Board approved the project, pitched by BL Companies, Inc., in July. In hearings for a site plan review a number of residents spoke in opposition to the plan, citing estimates for a distribution center to bring up to 700 vehicles entering and exiting the facility each day.

At the time, BL Companies — an architecture and engineering firm — did not disclose what company would operate out of the distribution center.

Wages start at at $15 an hour for both full and part-time workers, Morse said.

Amazon will have a booth at Celebrate Holyoke this weekend, and Morse’s statement encouraged residents and prospective employees encouraged to stop by to learn more. The city is working with Amazon to coordinate a hiring event, Morse said.

“As Mayor, I am encouraged by Amazon’s commitment to hire locally, provide hundreds of living-wage jobs, and strengthen our tax base,” Morse said. "The distribution center will continue to help Holyoke grow and diversify our economy while providing job opportunities to residents. I look forward to working with their representatives, and hope to see everyone this weekend at Celebrate Holyoke.”

A number of job listings, for positions ranging from shift managers to “learning coordinator,” have been posted online in recent weeks.


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