Inland Empire Welcomes New Amazon Asset

First package arriving at the Amazon fulfillment center in Beaumont, Calif. Image courtesy of Amazon

Amazon has opened its latest fulfillment center in California’s Inland Empire—a 640,000-square-foot facility in Beaumont, Calif., that employs more than 1,000 full-time associates who will pick, pack and ship small items including books, electronics, school supplies and home goods.

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Development of the fulfillment center, located in an industrial business park near the intersection of the Interstate 10 and state Route 60 freeways, was announced in November 2018. At that time, Amazon had 13 centers in the Inland Empire in California with Beaumont set to be the 14th. Other Inland Empire locations include Eastvale, Moreno Valley, Redlands, Rialto, Riverside and San Bernardino. Amazon is the largest employer in the Inland Empire, where it launched its first California fulfillment center in San Bernardino in 2012.

Beaumont City Manager Todd Parton said in a prepared statement the cutting-edge facility solidifies Beaumont as a pivotal location within the Inland Empire for international trade and commerce. He said the city was looking forward to the employment opportunities Amazon is bringing with its latest fulfillment center. The e-commerce giant, which notes it offers full-time employees comprehensive benefits including a minimum starting wage of $15 an hour, said it is still hiring for the site. Since 2010, Amazon has created more than 91,000 jobs in California and invested more than $50 billion across the state, including infrastructure and compensation to employees in the state.

Busy summer in Texas

In August, Amazon revealed plans to construct a new 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Forney, Texas, about 20 miles east of Dallas. Planned for delivery by 2021, it was the third fulfillment center announced for Texas within a 30-day period during the summer. The company increased its network square footage by about 15 percent in 2019 and expects to grow year-over-year square footage this year by about 50 percent, with space including fulfillment centers, sort centers and delivery stations.

The Forney announcement followed the company’s news in July that it was building two other industrial projects in Texas. Within a single week, Amazon announced it would open its first fulfillment center in El Paso with the development of a 625,000-square-foot facility and launch an 820,000-square-foot fulfillment center outside Austin in Pflugerville. Also in Austin, the company signed a lease to rent about 300,000 square feet in Kyle for a new sorting center.