Feb. 24, 2022

Impressive. Automated. Efficient. And big.

The descriptors were consistent as local business leaders and elected officials got a look at the progress inside the city’s new Amazon fulfillment center this week.

“It’s tremendously automated and computerized, and it amazed me they will be able to move that much product around in that building,” said Bob Mundt, CEO of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation, which developed Foundation Park where Amazon is located in northwest Sioux Falls.

The nearly 3-million-square-foot fulfillment center still has a ways to go before it’s ready to begin preparing products for shipping.

“They’re just starting to install equipment, conveyor systems and things like that,” Mundt said. “I think they’re about 95 percent done with construction, and then they’ll be bringing their conveyor systems and installing those over the next 90 days.”

The five-story Sioux Falls facility will use the most state-of-the-art approach, those on the tour said.

“I think as they keep building these centers they get better and better,” said Clark Meyer, president of Concrete Materials, which also worked on the building.

“It’s impressive. The strength of that system is the algorithms and the automation and the data, and, of course, that’s what Amazon is known for.”

The automation in the fulfillment center reminded tour participants of small robots, though Amazon doesn’t call them robots.

“They said starting on the second floor there probably are 1,000 per floor of these little robots that pick up things and move them around,” said Jeff Eckhoff, the city’s director of planning and development services. “Everything runs on bar codes, and you start thinking about the programming behind that to tie it all together, and it’s mind-blowing.”

The facility will handle small items, less than 50 pounds and generally no bigger than a toaster.

Meyer said after the tour he went on YouTube to look at similar facilities once they’re operational. While there are various generations of technology represented, this one appeared close to what’s coming to Sioux Falls, he said:

The tour included looks at areas designed to increase employee satisfaction, including a classroom. Amazon plans to have 1,000 full-time jobs in this location.

“Employees who work at Amazon can essentially take classes to get their degree,” Mundt said. “They bring in instructors and partner with universities, so people can get certified or get a degree, and they get up to $5,250 (per year) toward that. So they can get a degree in something and stay at Amazon or get a degree and go somewhere else, and they don’t have to repay it.”

There also are areas for yoga and other fitness, and break rooms throughout the buildings to minimize distance for employees.

“I think they recognize the struggles with workforce, and they recognize it’s a type of job where you don’t necessarily get a lot of interaction with other staff, so they’re intentional about creating that for people,” Eckhoff said.

Amazon offers a minimum wage of $15 per hour along with comprehensive benefits for full-time employees, including full medical, vision and dental insurance as well as a 401(k) with 50 percent match starting on day one.

The company also offers up to 20 weeks of maternal and parental paid leave and unique benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility to support their families.

“They’re going to give 1,000 people very quality jobs, and they have some major jobs there,” Meyer said. “They’ve come a long way, and it’s amazing the scope of what they’ve done already, but they obviously have some work to do yet.”

While Amazon hasn’t put a timeline on the operation — just that it plans to start sometime this year — management hiring likely will start 120 days before opening, and the rest of the team will start to be hired 90 days out, Mundt said.