Amazon plans another area warehouse, more jobs

Amazon.com plans to open a third large distribution center in central Indiana this summer that will employ hundreds of workers, the company said Monday morning.

The 900,000-square-foot Internet-order fulfillment center will open in Indianapolis sometime this summer the company said. A company spokeswoman declined to say exactly where the facility would be located or how many jobs would be created.

A permit filed by Amazon with the city identified the site as 710 S. Girls School Road in an existing distribution center near Indianapolis International Airport and Interstate 465. The site offers foreign trade zone status and rail access. 

"Amazon will create several hundred full-time jobs and hundreds of seasonal jobs at the facility this year," the announcement said.

Full-time hourly openings will include positions in picking, packing and receiving/shipping, and management roles in operations, safety, human resources and technical support, the company said. 

Seattle-based Amazon aleady operates two distribution centers in central Indiana, one just north of Indianapolis in Whitestown with 1,200 full-time workers and another in Plainfield with 350 employees. The new center will brings its distribution "footprint" in central Indiana to about 2.5 million square feet of space.

Indiana is among the states that don't force online retailers to collect state sales tax as other states have pressured them to do. State economic development officials four years ago made a commitment to Amazon that they wouldn’t push to collect sales tax from the company. Officials dangled the incentive to get the company to locate its first warehouse in Indiana.

“We are committed to growth in Indiana because [Gov. Mitch] Daniels and other state officials have demonstrated their commitment to Amazon jobs and investment,” said Paul Misener, vice president of Amazon global public policy.