May 9—ELKHART — With traffic on the Indiana Toll Road visible through open doors just yards away, community representatives and members of the news media were given a walk-through tour event of the in-progress Amazon robotics fulfillment facility in Elkhart Thursday morning.

Kylie Degiulio, senior manager for economic development for Amazon, helped lead the tour around the facility, which is still under construction with an anticipated completion date of fall 2025.

"This is really the hub of where the Amazon customer experience begins," Degiulio said. "Despite some minor setbacks, we're still on track."

The facility, set to be the 40th Amazon facility in Indiana, has a ground-level floor space of about 800,000 square feet, with conveyer equipment moving items around and with robotic sorting equipment in operation on the second floor, more so than in any other Amazon facility.

"Everything just goes where it fits," Degiulio said about the overall sorting and packaging process.

At present, much of the building is open space, with shelving awaiting to be assembled on the floor. Package flow will begin in the center area, leading to escalators on the exterior walls.

"We'll have about 10 miles of interconnected conveyers in this facility," said Amazon representative Andre Woodson.

With about 1,000 workers expected to be hired, most of whom will work on the first floor, there will be six break rooms located on each level and 3,500 wireless access points located around the facility.

Degiulio said that once the facility is completed and ready to go into operation, there will be about a two-month ramp up hiring process. A recruiting center will be available on site, and the average hourly wage for workers will be $20.50, and health insurance and other benefits available on day one of employment.

He also said that talks are underway about public transit options, specifically bus service, for the facility, and that training and classroom educational opportunities will be available.

"We feel pretty good about that number," Degiulio said about the estimated 1,000 employees who are expected to be hired on, despite COVID-19 pandemic-inspired concerns about shortages of available workers.

Direct deliveries to customers will not start there, and Degiulio described it as a "first mile" facility, with respect to its place in the overall process of getting products to customers — the "last mile" being the route that individual delivery drivers will take to the customer's front door.

With respected to the technology aspects of the facility, Degiulio emphasized that robotic technology will not replace workers, but will assist and support them.

"We're really excited about the technology in this building," he said.

So far, the project is estimated to have created about 1,000 construction jobs, and material handling equipment is expected to be installed later this month. Ambrose, the Indianapolis-based general contractor used for construction, received a real property tax abatement for the project.

Degiulio added that from this facility customers not only in Elkhart County but around the Midwest will be served, possibly in some cases nationwide. For example, if someone in California wants to buy an Indianapolis Colts Jersey or other memorabilia, such items might well go through the Elkhart facility.

"This is really the hub of that process," he said.

To learn more, visit www.amazon.com.