LAKELAND, Fla. — If you looked up in the sky over Lakeland Thursday afternoon, you might’ve spotted the very first flight for Amazon Prime Air arriving at Lakeland Linder airport.
The retail giant has opened a massive cargo handling facility, which is projected to deliver a whole lot of jobs along with those Prime packages.
The flight from Sacramento, California took a few hours to get here, but was actually about five years in the making.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, this is 100,” said Gene Conrad, Lakeland Linder International’s Airport Director.
“I will tell you Amazon‘s been a great partner to work with. They have bent over backwards to get here as well,” said Conrad. “You know, they want to be here because we have great facilities, but they didn’t have to be here, they could’ve gone to other places. And so, we’re very fortunate.”
Thursday marked the first flight for Amazon Air into its newest regional hub in Lakeland.
It’s not just a warehouse, says Conrad. The 220,000 square-foot cargo facility is a fly-it-in truck-it-out distribution center filled with robots, automated vehicles and high-tech machinery.
“The complexity of what’s actually in there, I was in awe,” said Conrad, who recently got a sneak-peak at the operation. “You know, I kind of knew what was going to be in there but the technology that’s in there is impressive.”
Conrad said during his tour he noticed very few, if any, changes to the facility itself brought on by COVID-19. But he noticed associates getting their temperatures taken, wearing masks, and being socially distanced as a precaution.
The cargo center, which is the largest in the southeast, will start with one flight a day, eventually increasing to eight, said Conrad. It’s a key facility in moving Amazon Prime from two-day delivery to same day delivery.
It’s also expected to generate between 600 and 800 jobs, he said.
“This is a true sorting facility where is the packages whiz around the building and then get them where they need to go quicker,” said Conrad.
The airport itself underwent an overhaul to land Amazon Air. Infrastructure improvements cost $18 million, and $25 million more paid to redo the runway.
But the investment, they say, is well worth the projected half-billion dollars a year in economic impact.
“Considering COVID and everything going on in the world right now, you know, we’re fortunate,” said Conrad.
And it might be just be the beginning.
Conrad says Amazon’s presence is a catalyst, already generating new projects.
An economic engine delivering not just packages, but opportunities.
“Again, it’s about creating opportunities and jobs and driving economic development and having investment in this facility and in the surrounding area,” said Conrad. “That’s what it’s all about.”
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