Clay, N.Y. ― The economic benefits that a $350 million Amazon fulfillment center in Clay will bring to the Syracuse area will go well beyond the 1,000 jobs the gigantic facility will create, local officials say.
Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon made it official Monday, announcing what news accounts had already suggested: Amazon will be the tenant for a 3.8-million-square-foot distribution center under construction off Morgan Road just north of the village of Liverpool.
“The biggest secret in all of Central New York is no longer a secret,” McMahon said with a smile during a news conference.
Calling it a “once-in-a-generation project,” McMahon said the 1,000 jobs the center will provide can be a pathway out of poverty for many in the community.
“With this 1,000 jobs, $40 million of new payroll a year, $400 million of new payroll over 10 years, when you look at all the other spinoff jobs from this project, it will be really remarkable,” he said.
When it opens in September 2021, the facility will contain the latest in merchandise-moving technology, with 10 miles of conveyor belts and hundreds of robots working alongside people.
Most of the jobs will entail placing products on storage pods, pulling them from the pods to fill a customer order and packaging them. Robotic drives will move the pods where they need to be. The human workers will stand at stations throughout the center while the robots do the running around.
An Amazon employee pulls products from a storage pod in one of the company's fulfillment centers. Robotic drives move the pods around the center. Amazon
Amazon said the jobs will pay a minimum of $15 an hour. Hiring will start a couple of months before the center opens. And there may wind up to be more than 1,000 of them. Amazon said more jobs may be created at the center after its opening.
But in addition to the jobs within the warehouse, local officials said, they expect the center to create spinoff jobs in transportation, packaging and other related fields.
“It’s something we’ve all be looking for, not just in the town of Clay, but throughout our region,” said Clay Town Supervisor Damian Ulatowski. “And equally so to the city, because Clay is not nearly as big a name or recognizable a name as the city of Syracuse is. I think this is going to give the city of Syracuse, as well as all of us, a great boost, not just in the short term but in the long term.”
Amazon spokesperson Rachael Lighty said the center will package small consumer items such as books, electronics, household goods and toys, and then ship them to other Amazon facilities, where they will be sorted for delivery to customers throughout Upstate New York and bordering states.
She said the company chose the location because of its position in the center of the state, its proximity to the Thruway and support from local officials.
Dallas-based developer Trammell Crow Co. approached the county with its plans last summer. It did not publicly disclose the likely tenant, but logistics experts said it could only be Amazon, given the size of the planned facility.
The company pressed for quick approvals so it could begin construction this spring. It got them.
The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency voted Oct. 31 to approve $70.8 million in tax breaks over 15 years for the project in exchange for the Amazon’s commitment to create at least 1,000 jobs. Six days later, the Clay Town Board granted the project a crucial zone change. A week after that, the town’s Zoning Board of Appeals approved variances from side yard setback requirements.
With the approvals in hand, Trammell Crow began construction on the center March 11, wasting no time cutting down hundreds of trees and plowing over the Liverpool Public Golf and Country Club, which stood on the site at Morgan Road and the Liverpool Bypass for 72 years. The company will lease the facility to Amazon.
Even the coronavirus pandemic, which has otherwise devastated the local economy, could not stop the project. Construction stopped for just a few days in March after Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a halt to all but essential construction projects to slow the spread of the virus. But work started back up after the state, with urging from McMahon, declared the project essential.
“Our community (did) an amazing job to court a project, then to bring the project here under what were certain timelines that needed to be met to secure the project,” McMahon said. “And we were able to do that by working together.”
Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148