By Amy Edelen
Spokane Journal of Business

Amazon, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant, is building a $150 million fulfillment center in Spokane Valley that will bring an additional 1,000 full-time jobs to Eastern Washington.

The 1.3 million-square-foot facility, previously known by its code name, “Project Fireball,” will open later this year. It will fulfill orders for larger items such as bulk cleaning supplies, paper goods, patio furniture, pet food and outdoor sports equipment.

The addition will bring Amazon’s Spokane-area payroll to about 5,000, making it the county’s second-largest private employer and fourth-largest overall.

“We’re excited to continue our growth in the Spokane area, adding our third fulfillment center of this type to our greater Pacific Northwest operations,” said Catie Hydeman, Amazon’s North American customer fulfillment non-sort operations director.

The center will speed up shipping times for customer orders of larger items.

 Amazon will begin hiring for roles involving receiving and stowing inventory, shipping customer orders and supporting network logistics, this year.

Jobs at the fulfillment center begin at $15 an hour and include benefits. Employees will have access to Amazon’s Career Choice program, which pays 95% of tuition for courses in high-demand fields such as nursing and IT programming.

Grant Forsyth, Avista Corp.’s chief economist, said the center will help offset pandemic-related job losses.

“There are these ripple effects that will help job creation because of those 1,000 Amazon jobs,” Forsyth said.

Amazon said it has created more than 80,000 jobs in Washington and invested nearly $100 billion across the state.

Doug Tweedy, regional economist for the Washington state Employment Security Department, said the new employees in Spokane Valley show the growing importance of transportation and warehouse work to the economy of Eastern Washington.

“It’s not just Amazon increasing jobs. It’s also UPS and FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service,” Tweedy said. “They are riding that wave of people shopping from home and getting their purchases delivered.”

Chicago-based Clayco Inc. is the contractor. The Washington State Department of Commerce said Amazon received no incentives for the project from the state. The 80-acre project site is owned by Centennial Properties, a subsidiary of the Cowles Co., which also publishes The Spokesman-Review.

The site is part of an industrial area where the city of Spokane Valley partnered with Spokane County to attract business by extending utilities and taking other steps to address transportation and other concerns before developers file for permits.