Wichita will be the site of a new Amazon distribution warehouse.
Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple announced Thursday that the Seattle-based company will move into an already-built facility near Jabara Airport this fall.
"COVID has had a very large impact on our economy," he said. "Really, we don't get, or at least I don't, ... a lot of opportunities to have some good news."
Assistant City Manager Scott Rigby said the new warehouse will create about 100 jobs directly, as well as additional jobs to support the distribution center.
He said the 140,000-square-foot building was one of three built as part of the city’s 2018 effort to encourage more industrial development.
"As we listened to national site selectors and brokers, one of the discussions we heard ... was that Wichita simply was not on the list for a lot of these type of facilities simply because we didn’t have a type of product they’re looking for," Rigby said.
"In today’s age, the day of where a company comes and waits 15 to 18 months to build a facility, those days are gone."
He said he doesn’t know yet what specific products the company will handle at the new facility, or when Amazon will move in, but that "hopefully in the coming fall that building will be outfitted and be ready for operation."
