Officials tour Fall River Amazon facility

March 25, 2017 8:36 am

By: News Staff

news@abc6.com

Twitter: @ABC6

FALL RIVER, Mass. — Public officials including Governor Charlie Baker and Senator Elizabeth Warren were on hand to see how Amazon gets all of their packages out the door, and how it is helping the economy of Massachusetts.

If you have driven down Route 24 in Fall River, you may have seen a gigantic building right off the side of the road, but inside is where all the magic happens. It is where most of the things you buy on Amazon gets packed up.

Row after row after row of goods line the million square foot Amazon Fulfillment Center in Fall River.

It shipped its first product out in October. Since then, it has been sending out anywhere from a couple of thousand to 10,000 units every hour.

The company chose the Fall River location back in 2015 for, among other reasons, the huge customer base it sees right in Massachusetts and New England.

“Amazon represents such a big brand a big footprint for the south coast,” said Governor Baker.

The 1/4 mile long facility is Amazon’s largest in the country, but it also helps small businesses that store their products here and sell them on Amazon.

“More than 90,000 businesses in mass use this facility to grow their businesses and expand their customer base.”

The facility sees hundreds of trucks come and go every day. Once they arrive, products get scanned, boxed, and barcoded and sent on their way to the customer’s doorstep.

With all that volume, comes a lot of employees.

At the moment, the Fall River facility employees 1,000 people.

“Amazon has discovered a local treasure and that’s the workers of Bristol County who are ready to rock and roll am I right on that!?,” said Senator Warren.

The Fall River facility is the third in New England, but Amazon representatives say they see growth in the future in Massachusetts and New England because the customer base is so large.