Dear Mr. Know-It-All:
Has any information been released on the new Amazon building on Browning Parkway? Can you help clarify? Thanks for the column!
Signed,
Shop Till You Drop
Dear Shop:
Full disclosure: Mr. Know-It-All has purchased a thing or two from Amazon.com (who among us hasn’t?) but he also has a soft spot for the art of shopping and discovering that long-sought item you’ve been looking for in one of our many local businesses and making that in-person purchase.
Farmington and San Juan County has reached another level of “metropolitianism” with the addition of this facility, owned and operated by one of the world’s largest companies. Mr. Know-It-All reached out to the fine folks at Amazon, but checking the calendar four business days later, he still has not received a reply.
Luckily, a search of the Tri-City Record archives shows award-winning reporter Debra Mayeux reported in August about the 41,250-square-foot facility being built on Browning Parkway. She found out that the Amazon facility’s 44-page plans include an “assembly” area with a break room, employee resource center, and a multipurpose and training room. There’s also a 37,581-square-foot storage room and 8,498 square feet of covered van loading areas.
This latest project is part of Amazon’s $1.6 billion investment in New Mexico since 2010, which includes infrastructure and employee wages. This structure appears to be the seventh Delivery Station built in New Mexico along with 2 Fulfillment and sorting centers. Pretty impressive numbers if you ask me.
Despite the corporate-coyness at Amazon, Mr. Know-It-All was able to find some more information about Amazon’s new business presence in our area by reaching out to Ross Wofford, who is the owner of Trad Logistics with his wife, Erica. Trad delivers “last mile” packages for Amazon. Mr. Wofford made sure I understood that Trad is not part of Amazon, but a contracted third-party delivery service partner who began working with the Amazon managers at this delivery station on Dec. 5. That’s right smack in the middle of the busy holiday mailing season, and Wofford says his delivery associates worked hard to get holiday packages delivered during the peak time.
Wofford told me he has hired 50 employees in San Juan County to operate Trad’s fleet of Amazon-branded delivery vans and white delivery vans, so be on the lookout for them in your neighborhood. Their delivery area includes all of San Juan County and even parts of Southwest Colorado. Full-time drivers have a four-day workweek and earn between $20.25 - $21.25 per hour, based on experience. He says as their delivery routes grow in our area, they will be looking to hire more delivery drivers.
Mr. Know-It-All is always excited to see investment in our community, especially when it brings with it knew opportunities and well-paying jobs. This facility may further strengthen Farmington’s status as the center of commerce in the Four Corners region.
Mr. Know-It-All is Scott Michlin, the general manager of KSJE 90.9FM community-supported radio at San Juan College. Hlso teacher he’s not answering questions here or on the radio, you might find him teaching public speaking or mass media classes at San Juan College, or serving on the board of directors for San Juan United Way, Presbyterian Medical Services, or the San Juan Symphony.
If you have a question about something in San Juan County, drop him a line at SMichlin@tricityrecordnm.com. If he doesn’t know the answer, he knows someone who does and you’ll read about it here in the pages of the Tri-City Record.
