Jobs boosted to 1200
Second Amazon warehouse in the wings?
-September 30,2021-
Amazon is open and in full operation says the new General Manager at the Visalia fulfillment center, Carlos Avelar. The 1.3 million square foot warehouse, the largest in the city, is on Riggin and Kelsey in the Visalia Industrial Park.
“We have already hired nearly 1000 on our way to 1200 accociates” says Avelar, adding they are” bringing on more employees than we originally anticipated.”
Avelar says he moved his family to Visalia in July from Tracy where he had been manager for 2.5 years.”The Central Valley has special place in my heart” says Avelar adding that he is looking forward to an open house soon, inviting local officials and has already huddled with other industry managers at the industrial park to introduce himself. “We want to be part of the community.”
The Visalia Amazon is different from any other Amazon in the Valley being a “fulfillment center” that stores goods,mostly larger in size, to be shipped throughout the Valley. The closest similar facility is in Patterson, says Avelar. Within these fulfillment centers, associates pick, pack, and ship larger-sized customer items ranging from boxes of diapers to patio umbrellas.
“We picked Visalia to be close to our customers.”
The next three months will be the busiest of the year for the big e-retailer says the general manager and at times they may add more than 1200 to the workforce.
Employees tell him they are glad they are working at Amazon with a starting pay of at least $15.50 per hour and benefits including paid time off and dental care. New hires who show proof of their Covid-19 vaccination earn a $100 bonus on their first day. Avelar says employees appreciate the fact Amazon encourages associates to go to college and will pay to make it happen while they work here.
Avelar says he “has heard the rumors” that their will be a second Amazon warehouse in the industrial park that will be built- but for now ”its just that -a rumor.”
CapRock role -second warehouse?
The same property owner, CapRock who landed Amazon more than 18 months ago to launch the building process is doing construction drawings on another 1.1 mil sf warehouse at Kelsey and Ave 320, just north of the current center. The filing actually calls for twin side-by-side warehouses on 150 acres in a second phase- totaling 2.2mil sf!
It was Newport Beach-based CapRock who, in 2017, sold 58 acres to UPS for a new distribution center that now sits just west of the Visalia Amazon center – considered the start of a logistics boom in Visalia. Today, a dozen more industrial warehouses are built,under construction or on the drawing board. Visalia’s success in attracting new logistics business has worried nearby Fresno, according to press reports, as they watch the most recent announcement that Ace Hardware will build a massive facility here bringing 400 jobs.
Amazon typically does not announce projects. Back in January this reporter wrote “Visalia’s largest building permit in 2020 was for $105 million issued to Gray Construction to build a logistics center at Riggin and Kelsey in the Visalia Industrial Park. The permit is for the new 1.3 million square ft Amazon warehouse that is expected to open late next summer. Despite all the dirt flying, Amazon has not announced the project.”
This week City of Visalia Community Development Director Paul Bernal confirms plans for the new logistic center are being reviewed by the city noting “we just sent them back for correctioin” a common practice.
Fueling the notion this is a second Amazon is the fact the same contractor is listed on the plans -Gray Construction.
Prior to beginning operations in Visalia, the company announced it had invested over $81 billion in California (between 2010 and 2020) including infrastructure and compensation to employees. Other direct and statewide impacts include more than 153,000 full-time and part-time jobs created in California. According to the company, it has added over $80 billion to the state’s gross domestic profit based on its investments.
Interested candidates must be 18 years or older and must have a high school education, GED, or equivalent diploma. Interested candidates may apply online at amazon.force.com.