Amazon.com plans to open a third large distribution center in central Indiana this summer that will employ hundreds of workers,
the company said Monday morning.
The 900,000-square-foot Internet-order fulfillment center will open in Indianapolis sometime this summer the company said.
A company spokeswoman declined to say exactly where the facility would be located or how many jobs would be created.
A permit filed by Amazon with the city identified the site as 710 S. Girls School Road in an existing distribution center
near Indianapolis International Airport and Interstate 465. The site offers foreign trade zone status and rail access.
"Amazon will create several hundred full-time jobs and hundreds of seasonal jobs at the facility this year," the
announcement said.
Full-time hourly openings will include positions in picking, packing and receiving/shipping, and management roles in operations,
safety, human resources and technical support, the company said.
Seattle-based Amazon aleady operates two distribution centers in central Indiana, one just north of Indianapolis in Whitestown
with 1,200 full-time workers and another in Plainfield with 350 employees. The new center will brings its distribution "footprint"
in central Indiana to about 2.5 million square feet of space.
Indiana is among the states that don't force online retailers to collect state sales tax as other states have pressured
them to do. State economic development officials four years ago made a commitment to Amazon that they wouldn’t push
to collect sales tax from the company. Officials dangled the incentive to get the company to locate its first warehouse in
Indiana.
“We are committed to growth in Indiana because [Gov. Mitch] Daniels and other state officials have demonstrated their
commitment to Amazon jobs and investment,” said Paul Misener, vice president of Amazon global public policy.
on Facebook & Twitter
Back to Top
IBJ Conversations
7 Comments
Add Comment
Indiana will lose an estimated $398.8 million in online sales tax revenue collections in 2012 according to a report prepared by two University of Tennessee professors. The economic impact of the jobs created by Amazon pails in comparison to the tax revenue that is due and owing under existing law. If an out-of-state business has a physical presence in Indiana, it has to collect the stateââ?¬â?¢s sales tax. Amazon should not be treated differently from every other business that has invested in the state. Amazon is operating distribution centers and is snowing our public officials to support their secret ââ?¬Å?sales tax exemptionââ?¬Â?, and using the lure of precious jobs as the bait. But itââ?¬â?¢s a bad deal for Indiana. The revenue created by the jobs is far outweighed by the sales taxes we are giving up.
Our Indiana retailers collect and remit sales taxes, so why should their online competitor be exempt from doing the same thing? People shop in local retailersââ?¬â?¢ stores located in Indiana, then order the same item online and get it without collecting sales tax. The item could be purchased in Indiana, shipped from Indiana and shipped to a customer in Indiana, but we do not collect sales tax. This is not in Indianaââ?¬â?¢s best interest. Small retailers that are the backbone of Indianaââ?¬â?¢s economy collect sales taxes and since they do not have the benefit of a ââ?¬Å?special dealââ?¬Â? they will be forced to lay off employees or close altogether. Many more jobs are created by our local retailers than Amazon has brought and is going to bring to Indiana. They have made much more in investments. They pay more in income taxes and property taxes than Amazon as well. Additionally, consumers that do not have readily available access to the internet, many of whom are poor, elderly or disabled are subsidizing the free ride on the internet sales tax holiday. This is unfair.
Our state should welcome open competition and we should encourage economic development. That�s the way the free market system works and we all benefit from it. But competition must be fair and in accordance with existing laws. If brick-and-mortar companies collect sales taxes, Amazon should collect sales taxes because it has a physical presence in Indiana.
Indiana has recently been struggling through the budget crisis and we clearly need to attract employers to our state, but we cannot afford to lose hundreds of millions of dollars that could be generated next year and even more in the future in order to create a few hundred jobs at Amazon at the expense of local retailers that employ hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers.
I call upon you to rethink this special Amazon deal, as many other states have recently done, before it�s too late. Our citizens deserve to be treated fairly and in accordance with law. We also need to collect sales taxes to pay for the services that Hoosiers have been deprived as a result of recent budget turmoil.
and youre complaining about job creation?
they arent asking for IU, Purdue, and others but i betcha 1/3 of the applicants for these jobs have degrees from said Unis.