Amazon ignition: Tallahassee fulfillment center opens as city's largest job creator

Hundreds of flat roaming robots, or "drivers," glide across the floor of Amazon's new fulfillment center in Tallahassee, all programed to do a job. Just beyond the ultra-tight security checkpoint that mirrors an airport TSA, two capri blue shell robots don't look like the others.

The robots showcase hand-written names tagged in permanent marker. Each signature represent dozens of Amazon's "Day 1" employees: Lexxy, Jaylen, Ieshia, Danny, Bruce and Claudia. The robot shells will soon hang on display for all to see. By Thursday's grand opening, more than 1,000 employees had been hired to be part of the first workforce wave at the much-anticipated facility.

More are slated to be hired for the holiday season — making Amazon the single largest private sector job creator in Tallahassee's history.

After missing its target opening before the holiday season last year, the facility soft opened in July and is now in full operation mode. The grand opening gave local officials the first opportunity to see inside the giant building that can be seen for miles off Interstate 10.

"All I'm gonna say is Leon County has been really great to work with both on the economic partner side and then also just from a workplace perspective. People have been really receptive to Amazon coming in," said Owen Torres, a spokesman for Amazon.

Located off Mahan Drive and Vineland drives, the $200 million facility is slated to have a total economic impact of more than $451 million, according to the Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality.

The e-commerce giant used 16 local firms to complete the project, totaling more than $27 million in awarded contracts. According to Amazon, $37 million went toward 25 companies classified as Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE).

Inside Amazon's facility

Once inside the glass doors, you see "Amazon" and its smiley arrow logo in giant white letters against its signature prime blue wall. No one comes in or out of the facility without first going through security and going through a metal detector.

The five-story building is massive. Employees trek the "green mile" along the perimeter of the first floor to move around. They hear a mechanic hum of towering machines throughout the 24-7 operation. Before work, each employee goes through various stretches at a designated station: neck and wrist rolls, lumbar rotations, ankle rolls and stationary hammer curls, to name a few.

Roaming robots are mainly located on the second to fifth floors. They navigate the vast terrain by zooming to and from small locator squares that resemble QR codes.

The facility is a maze of machines and designated zones for various functions that ultimately will farm out millions of packages across the capital city and throughout the company's network.

Grand opening brings large crowd, pom poms

It's not often when a private sector grand opening draws the presidents for Tallahassee's three schools of higher education. Cheerleaders from Florida A&M and Florida State universities brought an added dose of energy, and members of Tallahassee Community College's Basketball team were on hand.

The three schools are the latest additions to Amazon's Career Choice Program. In 2021, Amazon launched its Career Choice program at the collegiate level, a fledgling national effort that provides employees with a full-tuition ride through partnerships with nine universities and educational institutions in Florida, including the University of Florida and Florida State College in Jacksonville.

"We are committed to empowering our employees by providing them access to education and the training that they need to grow their careers, whether that's with us or elsewhere," said Tammy Thieman, global director for Amazon's Career Choice initiative. "One of the ways we do that is through our upskilling 2025 pledge ... a $1.2 billion commitment to provide skills training and education to 300,000 US-based employees by 2025."

FSU President Richard McCullough praised Amazon for the program that he says will provide social mobility and an opportunity to further education.

"I came from a poor family. I worked my way through school, and I didn't have this kind of an opportunity," he said. "But through education, I've been able to get to where I am today. So, I'm living the American dream. So that's where it starts. For people like this, Career Choice can provide that opportunity."

FAMU President Larry Robinson said the historically Black college has an existing partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and just recently traveled to the company's headquarters in Seattle. Now, this fulfillment center is in his school's backyard, and he was eager to get inside and see it.

"I'm really impressed with the commitment to technology here and innovation," he said. "That's something that we've really been drilling down on in our various programs for our students, to be ready for this type of experience."

Remarks were also made by a host of local government officials, who all but rolled out the red carpet for Amazon and punctuated how the company will add to the city and county's economic vitality.

"This marks a significant milestone not only for the county with countless opportunities it brings to our residents, our businesses and our future. We are so honored that Amazon, a global leader in e-commerce, chose Leon County as the home," County Commissioner Carolyn Cummings said. "We understand that Amazon's presence in our community comes with expectations, expectations of excellence. Expectations of sustainability and expectations of giving back to the community."

Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey pointed out "Amazon's commitment to providing full employment benefits from day one" and said that's "absolutely incredible."

"The establishment of the Amazon fulfillment center brings with it a wave of positivity that can not be overstated," he said just before officials cut the ribbon and a cloud of confetti burst into the air. "With over 1,000 jobs already created, we are not just witnessing the growth of this facility but we are witnessing the birth of careers right here in our backyard."

But some commissioners weren't feeling the positive vibes. Several elected officials were not in attendance, including some who have questioned Amazon's imminent impact on the capital city and incentives promised to the corporate giant.

Tallahassee Commissioner Jack Porter, who was the sole dissenting vote for the company to receive a lucrative incentive package in attempts to lure Amazon to Tallahassee, said her concerns have not changed and opted not to attend the grand opening.

"As reflected in my vote at Blueprint, I’m concerned about potential negative impacts to local small businesses, issues with wages and labor practices, and flaws with our local economic development subsidies process," she said in a text to the Tallahassee Democrat. "I am hopeful for the best outcome for our local economy and the people of Tallahassee, which remains my primary focus every day."

Tallahassee Commissioner Jeremy Matlow also declined to attend the grand opening and instead picked up trash off West Pensacola Street, alongside Porter.

"The city will be well-represented at the ribbon cutting," he said, in a statement to the Democrat. "We’re all busy and have to prioritize our time and after hearing from concerned neighbors and businesses on West Pensacola Street, I felt my time would be best spent lending a helping hand."

Tallahassee fulfillment center by the numbers

• It's Amazon's sixth robotic fulfillment center to launch in Florida

• More than 20,000 tons of steel was used to build the 630,000 square feet building — roughly the size of 11 football fields

• Stores tens of millions of products that travel over more than 10 miles of conveyer belts that crisscross the facility

• Houses more than 40 million items within the facility

• During peak seasons, the facility can ship up to one million items per day.

Contact Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com. Follow @TaMarynWaters on X.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee Amazon fulfillment center opens doors after hiring 1,000