When Davenport, Iowa’s new Amazon Robotic Fulfillment Center opens this spring, it will have a large effect on the economy of the Quad Cities. It is set to create over 1,000 new full-time jobs which will make it the 16th largest employer in the Quad Cities. Wages at the new facility will start at $15 per hour.
With so many jobs being created in the Quad City area, it will likely have a large impact on the local job market. This will lead to demand for workers increasing, creating competition between companies to obtain workers. Because of this, it is possible that other large employers such as Alcoa and John Deere will find themselves losing employees to Amazon. This will most likely cause an increase in wages for workers in other corporations due to higher competition and demand for them.
Not only will this site create a large amount of jobs and create competition in the job market, but it will also help consumers who purchase Amazon products. “The site will help us continue to serve customers with great delivery options. We appreciate the support from state and local leaders who have made Amazon’s growth in Iowa possible,” stated regional public relations manager for Amazon, Caitlin Polochak.
Although many are excited about the positive effects the new Amazon Facility will bring to the Quad Cities, there are some questions about how it will affect the agriculture industry. The 640,000 square foot building is located in the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center where it will span over 158 acres.
Many are upset about this because it is being built on good soil that could have been used for farming. Even more of this soil will be built over by the new roads leading up to the fulfillment center as well. “The agricultural community will definitely be affected by the ground the Amazon building has taken up,” said senior Brandon Benson.
Local 4 news reporter Johnathon Turner has dubbed Amazon’s new development as “the largest economic development project in QC history.” With a company as large as Amazon opening an establishment in the Quad Cities, it is certain that the economy will continue to grow in the area.
Luke Vonderhaar • Mar 25, 2022 at 8:28 am
I feel like this will do great things for the local community and help provide jobs for people at a decent wage. Great article, I’m excited for the 1 day shipping.
Colin Meyer • Mar 24, 2022 at 12:48 pm
I think this establishment will certainly continue to grow our local economy here. This will provide many new job openings as well.
Aidan Judd • Mar 24, 2022 at 12:42 pm
I think this will be very beneficial and being the 16th largest job producer in the Quad Cities will be awesome for the local economy and will help out many with a well paying job. Even though many aren’t happy due to the good farming land being used for a large Amazon facility, I think the positives will outweigh the negatives because we will only be losing a small percentage of Iowa farm land.
Vince Tarpein • Mar 22, 2022 at 8:24 pm
This is really interesting to think about, since there are going to be lots of local business that will be ran until they are completely out of business, which allows bigger corporations to gain more strength and become the new “local” companies.
Joel S Lawlor • Mar 22, 2022 at 1:18 pm
I think this is going to be so good for our economy because I believe that the amount of land we gave us for farming is being largely beat out by the amount of output in so many aspects that the new amazon facility will bring