PASCO, Wash. – After sitting empty for over two years, the Amazon warehouse in Pasco is now up and running. This development has already brought over 1,500 jobs to the Tri-Cities.
The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the warehouse took place recently, marking the facility’s contribution to local employment. Pasco Mayor Pete Serrano expressed enthusiasm for how Amazon’s presence will benefit the community.
“We get groups like Amazon who are willing to reinvest in the community, and I think those are the partnerships that we’re looking for. So that people don’t just show up clock in and clock out 9 to 5 and they’re gone,” Mayor Serrano said.
The company plans to hire around 200 more employees, adding to the current staff.
Amazon is working with WSU Tri-Cities through its Career Choice program, which helps hourly workers advance their education and professional training. Thomas Power, Amazon PSC2 Site Lead, highlighted this initiative.
“What we call the Career Choice option here, where people get to learn new careers, whether it’s Amazon related or not. And at some point that will trickle down into the local economy,” Power said.
Mayor Serrano also mentioned Amazon’s significant investment in the region, estimated at $260 million in facilities within the Tri-Cities area. This investment is set to generate substantial tax revenue for Pasco.
“This is like the foundation of building the community, having the jobs and the workforce and keeping them local. And so to me, this is really the platform that we’re going to build on to spring off,” Mayor Serrano said.
The new warehouse, though not a distribution center, aims to optimize the availability of everyday products for quicker delivery.
“If we compare this to a traditional Amazon fulfillment center, this one is a warehouse that doesn’t service directly to the customer. So what this building is built for is to optimize the placement of products across the country. It’s to regionalize the product. So more of our product is available for one of our customers with quicker delivery options,” Power said.
Power gives an example on how the new warehouse moves products for Amazon.
“Let’s say you’re ordering that everyday product of paper towel, right? Traditionally, you go on, you can’t get it in a day or two. You go ahead and you get in your car and you go to the grocery store. Right. So hopefully what this optimization is that we have all that paper towel close to you for that quicker delivery,” Power said.
Amazon has another empty warehouse across the street from the current one, but have not announced their plans for the facility.
