Employees and their families recently celebrated five years of operations at Amazon’s fulfillment centers in Charleston and Chattanooga. Since beginning operations in 2011, the two fulfillment centers’ full-time employment has grown from 700 full-time employees when the buildings first opened to more than 4,000 full-time employees today.
Over the last five years, Amazon has become one of the largest employers in southeastern Tennessee, offering employees competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on day one. As Amazon celebrates five years in Chattanooga and Charleston, here are a few key initiatives, events and building milestones, along with some Tennessee facts.
Charleston
- Amazon’s Charleston fulfillment center shipped its first item, a Bumbo baby seat, on September 27, 2011, to a customer in South Carolina.
- Since opening its doors in September 2011 with more than 300 employees, the fulfillment center has grown now to more than 1,200 full-time employees.
- In December 2014, a $5,000 donation was made to the Walker Valley High School band for new uniforms. Members of the band also performed inside the fulfillment center for employees.
- The fulfillment center donated 50 touch-screen Kindles and $1,500 for content to students at Bachman Academy in March 2011.
- Amazon employees see millions of products that are shipped in and out of the fulfillment center every week. One of the more interesting products includes Design Toscano’s Bigfoot the Giant Life-size Yeti Statue.
Chattanooga
- Amazon’s Chattanooga fulfillment center shipped its first item, a printer cartridge, on Oct. 14, 2011, to a customer in California.
- Since opening its doors in September 2011 with approximately 400 employees, the Chattanooga fulfillment center has grown to more than 3,000 full-time employees.
- The Chattanooga fulfillment center welcomed President Barack Obama to the site in July 2013 for a speech to employees and the community. Before his speech, the president was given a tour of the site and had the opportunity to speak with employees. Amazon employee Lydia Flanders had the honor of introducing the president.
- Amazon believes in giving back to the communities where its employees live and work. The Chattanooga fulfillment center donated almost 8,000 pounds of food, equaling 4,000 meals, and personal items in May to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank; $1,000 in books in March 2014 to Mayor Andy Berke’s CityWide Book Drive; $5,000 in January 2013, to the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, which provided 25,000 meals for hungry individuals; Kindle Fire devices in November 2012 to 24 STEM teachers in southeast Tennessee to help aid with instruction in the classroom; and $5,000 in Feb 2012 to Orange Grove Center for youth with developmental disabilities, to name a few.
- In May 2014, Chattanooga was among six Amazon centers opened for public tours. Since then it has welcomed thousands of visitors through its public tour program. Visitors have come from as far away as Belize, Canada and China.
- Amazon employees see millions of products that are shipped in and out of the fulfillment center every week. One of the more interesting products includes brass Steampunk folding oculator encompassor binoculars with compass.
Tennessee Facts
- There are more than 7,000 full-time Amazon employees in Tennessee.
- There are six Amazon facilities in Tennessee. In addition to the fulfillment centers in Chattanooga and Charleston, there are fulfillment centers in Murfreesboro and Lebanon, a sortation center in Nashville that allows for Sunday delivery, and a Prime Now facility that provides free two-hour delivery on household items.
- Amazon has donated more than $95,000 to the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation to increase early childhood literacy across the state.
- Amazon offers employees who have been with the company for one year access to the Career Choice program, where the company 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.
- Amazon opened the first on-site Career Choice classroom in Tennessee on Sept. 29, 2015. The classroom allows associates to take college classes, industry certification courses, college readiness programs and business skill seminars on-site.
- Amazon has a robust military recruitment program and offers its veteran employees access to mentoring and career support to help them develop their skills into long-term careers at Amazon. During the past five years, many veterans have found careers in the Charleston fulfillment center.
- The fulfillment center continues to provide timely service in fulfilling millions of customer orders from all over the country, many of which come on Amazon’s busiest day of the year, Cyber Monday.