Amazon to Bring State-of-the-Art Facility to Chesapeake’s Western Branch Business District

(Chesapeake, VA) March 10, 2020—The City is pleased to announce that Amazon will be bringing a 650,000 square foot import processing center to the Western Branch Business District. A first of its kind in the State of Virginia, this operational facility will employ 500 people full-time, with industry-leading pay and benefits from day one.

This latest announcement comes almost a year and a half after Amazon announced its’ plans to locate a second North American headquarters in Arlington and Alexandria, Virginia. Alicia Boler Davis, Vice President of Global Customer Fulfillment at Amazon, cited the Commonwealth’s diverse workforce as being a vital component in the company’s ability to serve their customer base. The commitment to workforce development is evident in Amazon’s investment of over $700 Million in up-skilling training. For example, Amazon’s Career Choice pre-pays up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. This unique program has provided tuition assistance to over 25,000 employees in fields such as game design, visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology.

This project exemplifies the benefit of state, regional and local partnership. In addition to the location in Chesapeake, Amazon also announced plans to bring a fulfillment center to the City of Suffolk along the Portsmouth Boulevard corridor. Thanks to the leaders at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), the Port of Virginia, the Hampton Roads Economic Development Alliance (HREDA), the City of Suffolk and the City of Chesapeake, Amazon will create 1,500 jobs in the 757.

Rick West, Mayor of Chesapeake, states, “The City of Chesapeake is extremely pleased to welcome Amazon to our ever-growing family of local, national, and international businesses. This new facility will serve as the East Coast Hub for the beginning of Amazon’s supply chain, just as Chesapeake serves as the hub of South Hampton Roads. This significant investment showcases Amazon’s confidence in Chesapeake, and we’re committed to helping them rise up and leverage all our City has to offer”.

Chesapeake City Manager, Christopher Price, states “We are excited to welcome Amazon’s newest location to the City of Chesapeake. The company’s operation compliments our City’s long term strategy of bringing daytime employment opportunities to the Western Branch Business District. We applaud Amazon’s up-skilling programs and commitment to continuing education. We also want to thank all state, regional and local leaders for their assistance in bringing this important project to our City”.

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