Amazon To Bring New Jobs To Delaware
In the last few years, Amazon has been investing in new technologies and reinvesting in old infrastructure, from reputation management services to the development of the Kindle Fire. All this in an effort to stay on top of the great retail exodus, which is finding most companies hurrying to move their products and services online. Their newest expansion will bring the company to Delaware, where they plan to build a new distribution center.
Though historically Delaware (or “The First State”) has been one of the nation’s most prosperous states, like the other 49 Delaware was hit hard by the Great Recession in 2008. While a number of state legislative proposals have attempted to curb the damage, a combination of rising fuel costs (gas prices at $4-$5 dollar a gallon) and job market woes have kept Delaware still well-entrenched in stagnant economic conditions. Amazon appears poised to help out a bit in that department, with the announcement that they will be funneling $90 million into the creation of a fulfillment center in Middletown.
Middletown, a relatively small town with a population scarcely over 6,000, is Delaware’s fasting growing city, beckoning high-income residents and commercial vendors. The newest growth flies in the face of local history, as national retail and food chain stores continue to pop up all along the Route 301.
Could the creation of the Amazon fulfillment center, a project which is expected to create 2,500 local jobs, encourage more middle to lower income citizens to move to Middletown? City and state officials can only hope for this, as such a development would likely keep the town growing and give a boost to the housing market. However, the quick rise in industry has already led to overcrowding and congestion in schools and on roads. When the Amazon construction goes down, the city board will likely have to get to work improving the local infrastructure, which could create even more jobs.
Amazon built 10 other fulfillment centers last year, all across the world. They use these hubs in order to help store and ship merchandise at a speed in keeping with their online popularity. For the Middletown center, Amazon is expecting somewhere on the order of one million square feet of room, which will house 2,400 employees, making it Delaware’s 14th largest employer.
City officials say the new center will create job opportunities for the residents of neighboring counties Cecil, Harford, and New Castle. The facility will also create more of an incentive for the city to beef up its public infrastructure.
This article was contributed by Becky W., a freelance writer who loves to learn about the topics of education, technology and careers. In Becky’s spare time she loves to experience new recipes in the kitchen, traveling to exotic places, and staying healthy.
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