Amazon unveils warehouse expansion in Ruskin

RUSKIN -- An expansion of product handling lines that doubled the capacity of Amazon's Ruskin fulfillment center is drawing not only interest over the jobs it has produced, but how the company is using robotics to grow faster than ever.

A grand opening event for the production expansion drew state and local economic development officials and Gov. Rick Scott on Wednesday as they talked up one of the largest recent Florida hiring sprees by a single employer.

Seattle-based Amazon opened its 1 million-square-foot warehouse near Interstate 75 and State Road 674 in late 2014. Since starting with 1,000 employees, it has added another 1,500.

"There are not a lot of places in Florida where we've added 2,500 jobs in a year and a half," Scott said to the invitation-only crowd.

Citing privacy concerns, the company has repeatedly declined to identify where its Ruskin employees live and from where they draw new hires. The distribution center operates just 7 miles north of the Manatee County border and has been identified by local economic development officials as an employment magnet.

Sharon Hillstrom, CEO of the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp., said even her agency has remained in the dark when it comes to Amazon's em

ployment geography. But even if not a single Manatee County resident worked at the distribution center, she said she knows it is having a positive effect on the local economy. She attended Wednesday's event in Ruskin.

"From my perspective, this is a great regional asset," Hillstrom said.

Even as it has hired, Amazon has been installing hundreds of robots in the warehouse that do everything from move tall stacks of inventory to drive small trucks along miles of floor space. It is the company's newest type of distribution center, one that relies equally on the efforts of both humans and machines.

During a set of tours that brought the governor, state Sen. Bill Galvano, R-Bradenton, and members of the media to the massive work floor, employees generally identified themselves as being from Hillsborough County and points north. Some came to the facility from distant locales as it ramped up its workforce.

Javette Mackey had worked at Amazon facilities in California and Kentucky before moving to Brandon to work at the Ruskin warehouse. She said she wanted the chance to work in the company's new robot-driven workflow.

"It's very amazing, our robotics," she said.

Human employees at the facility are in charge of much of the detail work, including doing pick-and-pack fulfillment for businesses and retailers. The robots, which can carry up to 750 pounds atop their short, wheeled frames, do the heavy lifting, moving carts full of books, toys and other small items to various points along the facility's 10-mile network of conveyors.

The overall goal is to move retail products through the warehouse and onto FedEx shipping trucks, then on toward customers' homes and businesses.

Amazon officials declined to comment on how much the company spent on upgrades for the warehouse or the cost of the building that houses them. The recent improvements include both new conveyor infrastructure as well as the addition of more working floors. The workspace soars higher than three stories in some places.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter @MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 10:10 PM with the headline "Amazon unveils warehouse expansion in Ruskin ."