Andre Woodson, a spokesperson for the company, said there are “a variety of factors” that Amazon takes into account when deciding to launch a building, such as customer demand, a dedicated workforce and “great local support,” and that the company has found all of those in Monroe and surrounding communities.
MORE: Amazon set to start hiring at new Monroe facility
Amazon still plans to launch a new facility in Monroe, providing jobs to the area starting at $15 per hour with comprehensive benefits, Woodson said.
“The only thing that’s changed with our plans is the exact timing,” he said. “We are a dynamic business and we have dozens of fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations that are evolving and under construction across the country. It’s common for us to adjust launch timetables based on capacity needs across the network.”
Amazon isn’t the only retail powerhouse bringing jobs to the city. A $33 million Bed, Bath and Beyond e-commerce center is set for 62 acres off Salzman Road, across from the Kohl’s Distribution Center. The new 827,080-square-foot facility will create approximately 900 full-time jobs generating $26.6 million in new annual payroll.
Construction is anticipated to be completed by this winter.
Jennifer Ekey, economic development director for the city of Middletown, said the Opus Group’s 612,730-square-foot warehouse building at the corner of Todhunter and Yankee roads is expected to come online this year.
The project is expected to be “a substantial job creator,” Ekey said.
“Currently, there are also several hundred open jobs in Middletown that cover the entire range of industries from health care to manufacturing and retail to restaurants,” Ekey said. “Filling those existing positions is also a priority for the city.”
Jody Gunderson, Hamilton’s economic development director, previously told the Journal-News that ODW Logistics, ThyssenKrupp Bilstein and Barclaycard were among the city’s top job creators between 2017 and 2018.
Gunderson said 2019 job increases “are hard to predict,” but that city officials believe between 200 and 250 new jobs should be created in 2019 “based upon our communication with our existing companies across the board.”
In Fairfield, Standex Electronics, which produces switches and magnets in a variety of products and industries, from satellites to automobiles to medical devices, will hold a ribbon cutting in Fairfield this June, and city officials said they anticipate the company will bring more than 120 jobs to the community.
The Fischer Group, a group of interrelated consumer product companies with the capability to take a product from idea to shelf, is expected to add 100 jobs in Fairfield over the next two to three years, officials there said.
In West Chester Twp., a new TriHealth facility is projected to add 100 new jobs. Kemba Credit Union’s move to its newly constructed headquarters is projected to retain 108 jobs while creating 40 new jobs.
Liberty Twp. job growth for 2019 has mainly come from the relocation of positions when Amstan Logistics moved from Hamilton to a Liberty Center office earlier this year. The company now has 71 employees working out of that location and plans to add another five to 10 employees by year’s end, according to Christy Early, the company’s human resources generalist.
SOME OF THE BUSINESSES ADDING JOBS TO THE REGION IN 2019 AND BEYOND
• Amazon (Monroe): more than 1,000
• Bed Bath and Beyond (Monroe): more than 1,000
• Standex Electronics (Fairfield): more than 120
• TriHealth (West Chester Twp.): 100
• Kemba Credit Union (West Chester Twp.: 40
About the Author
