ASHLAND — Amazon officials made their first in-person appearance in Ashland Wednesday morning, addressing a room full of business leaders and elected officials at Ashland Area Economic Development’s annual breakfast.
Kyle DeGiulio, Amazon’s senior manager of economic development policy, shared insights about how the company’s $22 million facility could impact the community.
DeGiulio told the crowd more than 100 people would be hired to work inside the facility at a starting wage of “about” $18 per hour.
That doesn’t include jobs the company expects to generate via delivery positions.
How often does Ashland use Amazon’s services?
Ashland Area Economic Development engaged the audience through the use of a survey during the breakfast.
The majority of respondents said they received deliveries from Amazon multiple times a week, and they use the delivery service for both personal and professional items.
Those in the room Wednesday also overwhelmingly answered that Amazon has either completely or somewhat changed their shopping habits.
The facility, which Amazon has described as a “last-mile delivery station,” will be the 18th facility of its kind in Ohio. It will serve as a location to sort goods and load them onto delivery vehicles.
Previous Ashland Source reporting found the site would create between 50-75 part-time jobs, and about 10 full-time positions. DeGiulio said Wednesday most of those would be associate positions, who will help with sorting of packages.
While DeGiulio couldn’t provide an exact opening date for the facility, he said the goal is for it to open in the fall. The company typically begins its hiring process about four weeks prior to its “launch date.”
“It’s really an honor to be here,” DeGiulio said. “Obviously, this is a highly, deeply invested business community that we’re excited to be a part of.”
The company boasts $35 billion invested into the state since 2010, and another $31 billion added to the state’s gross domestic product over the same time frame.
An ‘excellent’ experience
DeGiulio also thanked Ashland’s city council for the ease with which the project has moved, saying it’s been an “excellent” experience for the company to work with Ashland’s local government.
“The mayor and I were talking earlier about that I was behind the curtain for part of these conversations, but all the feedback I was getting from our development team on our project here was about the ease of us doing this,” DeGiulio said.
Brokering the deal for the project happened through a third-party — namely, Ambrose Services LLC.
Ambrose Services, an Indiana-based company, develops facilities for e-commerce, industrial and logistics companies across the U.S., according to previous Ashland Source reporting.
Ashland Mayor Matt Miller said the breakfast was the first time city and county officials had a chance to meet Amazon’s representatives.
He said the Amazon facility was one of the biggest projects Ashland landed in 2024, adding he was grateful to have the city will have the facility.
