Tami Petsche is the chamber's Vice President of Business and Economic Growth. She says entry level wages start at $17.50/hour with health insurance, paid time off, and 401k benefits.
The huge center started operations as a "cross dock" in mid-October. Until the end of the year, Petsche says about 500 employees will work at receiving vender products, re-packaging them, and sending them to other distribution centers.
In the first quarter of next year, employment will increase to 1,000, and the Davenport site will become an Amazon Robotics Fulfillment Center.
The City of Davenport agreed to spend $3.9 million to upgrade streets around the Amazon property. And it applied for a state grant to help pay for 60% of the cost.
The Robotic Fulfillment Center is known as "MLI1." It's located along I-80 in the Eastern Iowa Industrial Center.
The chamber says the new jobs, and hundreds of indirect jobs, will boost the local economy by $148 million per year.
