Amazon to increase Idaho presence with new Boise-area warehouse, hundreds of jobs

Amazon announced Wednesday it will build a new delivery station in Meridian.

The 140,000-square-foot building will be located at 2490 E. Franklin Road, just west of Eagle Road. When it opens early next year, it will provide hundreds of full-time and part-time jobs, Amazon spokesperson Anne Laughlin Carpita said in an email.

“Their investment in this facility is a commitment by the company to their local customers, and with job opportunities it’s also a commitment to the future prosperity of our city, surrounding communities and to the state of Idaho,” Meridian Mayor Robert Simison said in a press release.

Based in Seattle, Amazon operates more than 250 delivery stations in the U.S. Packages go from larger Amazon fulfillment and sortation centers to a delivery station before being loaded into delivery vehicles and brought to customers. One delivery station is located in Boise.

Earlier this year, Amazon said it would have more than 4,000 employees in Idaho when an Amazon sort station at 2155 Freight St., at the Boise Gateway Industrial Park, opens later this year. It currently has more than 3,500 Idaho workers.

“We locate new facilities where we have growing customer demand,” Michelle Godwin-Watts, director of Amazon Logistics, said in the release. “Our proximity to customers enables us to continue to provide exceptional service and fast shipping times.”

Amazon will be 8th-largest Idaho employer

The 4,000 employees would move Amazon to No. 8 among Idaho’s largest employers. St. Luke’s Health System, with more than 14,000 employees, is the state’s largest employer, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. Amazon would be just behind Albertsons Companies and Battelle Energy Alliance, an Idaho National Laboratory contractor in Idaho Falls, who have more than 4,000 employees each.

In the Treasure Valley, Amazon would become the fourth-largest employer, behind St. Luke’s, Micron Technology and Saint Alphonsus Health System, according to the Boise Valley Economic Partnership.

Amazon has invested more than $106 million across the state, including infrastructure and compensation. These investments have contributed an additional $86 million to the Idaho economy and have helped create more than 650 indirect jobs on top of Amazon’s direct hires — from jobs in construction and logistics to professional services, the company said. In addition, more than 9,500 independent authors and small- and medium-sized businesses in Idaho are selling to customers in Amazon’s store.

Amazon adding to its 3 Boise-area facilities

Here are Amazon’s existing warehouses:

The Nampa fulfillment center, at 650,000 square feet, is Amazon’s largest warehouse in Idaho. It’s filled with household goods, books, toys and electronics shipped primarily to customers in the Treasure Valley. It employs 2,500.

At Amazon’s AMXL shop at 3920 E. Lanark St. in Meridian, 60 employees sort and deliver large items such as mattresses, furniture, sports equipment and bulk cleaning supplies.

The company’s delivery station at 6752 Business Way in Boise is where Amazon’s blue delivery vans pick up packages for delivery to customers’ homes and businesses.

Through Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner Program, five partner businesses with hundreds of employees have been created to handle package deliveries throughout the Treasure Valley.

Amazon jobs listings can be found online at amazon.jobs. Job seekers can also sign up for text alerts by texting BOISENOW1 to 77088.

Amazon offers a starting wage of at least $15 an hour, along with health care benefits and a retirement plan.