by Shawn Nowlin
When Amel Jones was growing up in southwest Roanoke, she often wondered what it would be like if the city had an Amazon facility to better serve customers within the Star City and the surrounding region.
Thanks to a combination of factors, most notably a long negotiation process and the approval of city council, Jones no longer has to ponder that.
At the end of October, Amazon opened a last-mile facility at 2002 Blue Hills Drive.
Considered “last mile” because it’s the last place packages stop before customers receive them, the current location was previously occupied by Deschutes’ Brewery. August County, Greensboro and Bristol are the only other locations in the region.
More than 50 acres were purchased for the development. Construction really started to ramp up over the summer. The goal was to have the facility up and running by Christmas. Now that it’s happened, all involved couldn’t be happier.
Mark Nelson, Roanoke’s Director for Economic Development, is among the city officials who believe that the facility will play a vital role in Roanoke’s growth and development.
“We really needed this. While people assume that these places are close, the reality is they are an hour, an hour and a half, sometimes two hours away,” according to Nelson. “Having this facility here is really going to be helpful to our community.”
Jones is elated that a company the magnitude of Amazon is now in Roanoke. “Not a week goes by where I don’t use Amazon on multiple instances. Instead of waiting in long lines to get my loved ones their Christmas gifts, I most certainly will be using Amazon,” she said.
Jones added, “Above everything else, the company offers convenience. I still remember the first item I purchased from Amazon. It was a CD by Groove Theory, and I still have it. This community investment should have a massive ROI.”
Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, Amazon has long been deemed one of the Big Five American tech companies, along with Alphabet, Apple, Meta and Microsoft.
Almost anything that one can think of can be purchased from Amazon. Whether it is a video game for a teen or a birth month flower scarf for grandma, chances are the conglomerate has it.
Amazon’s average base wage for hourly employees is approximately $22 per hour. Over the last two decades, Amazon has invested billions into Virginia while employing thousands.
