HANCOCK COUNTY — Amazon has started the process of hiring more than 800 employees for its new facility near Mt. Comfort, which is expected to be operational in the coming months.
It likely won’t be long until hundreds of more jobs follow. The over 615,000-square foot building is part of a growing business park on 176 acres on the north side of County Road 300N west of 400W.
Indianapolis-based Ambrose Property Group is developing the building that will house the Amazon operations facility and the other four buildings as part of the Mount Comfort Logistics Center.
Scott Sanders, vice president of development for Ambrose Property Group, recalled at a meeting of the Hancock County Economic Development Commission earlier this month the success the firm had in landing Amazon so soon into its plans.
“We put a lot of faith in the community and we got a lot of support and we really hit a home run out of the gate,” Sanders said.
According to a hiring announcement from Amazon, employees at the new Hancock County facility will make $15 an hour minimum and receive benefits. Jobs include receiving inventory, picking and shipping customer orders, and supporting network logistics.
Andre Woodson, who works in external operations communications for Amazon, told the Daily Reporter in an email that the exact date on when the facility becomes operational remains to be determined, but in general, Amazon begins hiring one to two months before a launch.
The hiring announcement also states the company continues to take COVID-19 precautions such as temperature checks, masks, enhanced cleaning, gloves and sanitation stations.
The facility Amazon is leasing is one of five proposed built-to-suit buildings totaling more than 1.5 million square feet in the Mount Comfort Logistics Center that Ambrose Property Group says will be ideal for distribution, light manufacturing and assembly.
Work is underway on the park’s second building, which will be almost 506,000 square feet and expandable to another 222,560 square feet. Sarah Holsapple, owner of Indianapolis-based Holsapple Communications, representing Ambrose Property Group, told the Daily Reporter in an email that the second building is expected to be finished in December.
“No tenants have been announced for this building yet, but there has been significant interest,” Holsapple added.
Two of the park’s future buildings are planned to be 131,040 square feet each, and another is planned to be 241,800 square feet.
Job seekers can apply for openings at Amazon’s upcoming Hancock County facility at amazon.com/indianajobs. As of Wednesday, Sept. 23, no specific openings had been posted, but people interested in applying can sign up for alerts of soon-to-announced positions.
The company reports it has created more than 13,000 jobs in Indiana and invested almost $12 billion across the state, including through compensation and infrastructure via seven fulfillment and sorting centers; three delivery stations; five Whole Foods Market locations; two Amazon Hub Locker+ locations; one Prime Now hub location; and one wind farm.
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Amazon operations facility
- 615,000+ square feet
- 800+ employees
- $15 an hour minimum
- Receiving inventory, picking and shipping customer orders, supporting network logistics
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Mount Comfort Logistics Center
- North side of County Road 300N west of 400W
- 176 acres
- Five buildings
- 1.5 million+ square feet
- Distribution, light manufacturing, assembly
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Amazon’s impending hiring campaign in Hancock County comes as the county’s unemployment rate dropped again in August.
According to figures released this week by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development, the county’s rate was 5.2% for the month. That compares with 6.3% a month earlier.
According to state data, 2,120 county residents were identified as being unemployed in August. That’s 419 fewer than in July. But it’s still more than were unemployed in August of 2019, when 1,195 were jobless.
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