Amazon announces Troutdale facility; 1,500 jobs coming

Gov. Kate Brown on Wednesday announced plans by Amazon.com to open its first Oregon fulfillment center in Troutdale. The facility is estimated to create more than 1,500 full-time positions.

The company currently operates a sortation center in Hillsboro and a Prime Now hub in Portland.

“Amazon’s expansion in Oregon brings us great jobs with competitive wages and bright futures for its employees and communities,” Brown said. “I’m committed to building a talented workforce that can take advantage of opportunities to work alongside innovative technology and have access to continuing education programming. This is more than a place to work. This facility is a symbol of growth for Troutdale and for Oregon.”

Additionally, there are more than 40,000 authors, sellers, and developers in Oregon growing their businesses and reaching new customers via Amazon products and services. Amazon employees at the 855,000 square-foot Troutdale fulfillment center will pick, pack, and ship smaller customer items, such as books, electronics and toys.

“We are excited to bring our first fulfillment center to the state of Oregon, creating 1,500 full-time jobs in Troutdale,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations. “Governor Brown, the city of Troutdale, and many others have been instrumental in our decision to locate the new fulfillment center in the area, and we appreciate the support we’ve received to bring new jobs and investment to Oregon.”

“This investment is an example of the role a public agency can play to turn a site that was once sitting vacant into productive use,” said Bill Wyatt, executive director at the Port of Portland. “Our vision for the property was to transform it into a jobs center that would benefit east county communities and today marks a milestone in that achievement.”

“We’re proud that Amazon chose Troutdale for its first Oregon fulfillment center,” said Troutdale Mayor Casey Ryan. “Troutdale has an excellent workforce, is strategically located to support Amazon’s growing customer fulfillment operations, and we are thrilled to be long-term partners with this innovative company. Amazon has demonstrated its wants to work with our community to spur positive economic growth through job creation, partnership with local businesses and philanthropic activities – and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”

Full-time employees at Amazon receive competitive hourly wages and a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare, 401(k) and company stock awards starting on day one, the governor’s announcement said.

Amazon also offers regular full-time employees maternity and parental leave benefits and access to innovative programs like Career Choice, which will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon.

Since the program’s launch, more than 9,000 employees have used the program to pursue degrees in areas such as game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology.