Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Dakota News Now) – After a soft opening, the new Amazon Fulfillment Center in Sioux Falls is officially open for business.
FSD1 General Manager Tim Choate has come a long way from his career at Amazon to Sioux Falls. South Dakota’s first fulfillment center is now up and running, and he’s excited to finally have access to it.
“I started working as an associate 10 years ago, so I was able to pack a box right down the street and work my way up,” Choate said. When I first came here, I was surprised that I didn’t get anything in two days.I’m here to deliver to South Dakota, so I can pick it up the next day.”
Same-day shipping for select items will begin this week, and 2-day shipping options will be available for more items in other regions.
“When we did our soft launch in October, we were only bringing in about 10 trucks a day. We expect it to grow to about 50 trucks per day,” Choate said. “We are 20% full. We have about 11 million units. Soon he expects to reach 22 million, 23 million, 24 million units.”
“I come home and find boxes of Amazon piled up on the garage floor. But the rest of the story is about half mine now.” increase.
The official opening of the facility is a dream come true for city officials, as the plan to bring the Amazon to Sioux Falls was the light many expected in the early stages of the pandemic.
“At the time, I couldn’t believe that anyone would consider investing in South Dakota, because at the time I was worried that the business would dry up. As I recall, it was, ‘How do we keep the lights on so we can keep the business going?'” said Paul Tenhaken, Mayor of Sioux Falls.
Choate says the facility currently employs about 300 people, but is still far from its goal of staffing about 1,500 people. This is true even if the bulk of the sorting and loading is done by robots.
“In the past, employees would carry the packages onto the trucks, but now robots carry the packages onto the trucks. I’ll take it,” Chote said.
Choate said he hopes to have the facility more operational by the end of the week, and that the process will be completed earlier this year as he hires more employees to staff the center.
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