Amazon to begin hiring 1,500 soon for former Rolling Acres site

Amazon’s massive fulfillment center on the site of the former Rolling Acres Mall is nearly ready for Prime time.

Hiring for about 1,500 jobs at what is called an Amazon robotics sortable facility, with the local designation AKC1, is expected to start in early fall. And with autumn’s first day being Sept. 22, that’s not far away.

Once hiring starts, the center should open a month or two later, according to an Amazon spokesman. That puts the possible operational timetable at late October or into November, just in time to begin processing holiday sales and deliveries.

Amazon said it cannot commit to a definitive date for when it will begin hiring for the four-story, 2.7 million-square-foot plant beyond saying the process should start in early fall.

One sign that things are imminent: The giant online retailer recently gave a small group of local officials a hard-hat tour of the place.

Among the visitors was Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan, who said the Amazon facility will provide an economic boost by initially providing as many as 1,500 jobs. Amazon’s minimum wage starts at $15 an hour. The facility should help revitalize the Romig Road corridor that declined as the former Rolling Acres Mall slowly shut down and then closed, the mayor said.

The city’s top goal is to have as many Akron residents as possible get jobs at the fulfillment center, Horrigan said.

When Amazon is ready to start hiring there, the city will help promote the openings, he said.

A main hope is that Romig Road “will become more lifelike again,” the mayor said.

“Anytime you can add 1,500 jobs at a pretty decent wage, with the benefits and some of the other things they are offering, that’s always a win,” Horrigan said.

He said the 1,500 jobs will be “a very good addition to the economy and we’re excited for them to get started.”

The people working shifts inside should help attract other businesses to the area, Horrigan said. The workers will need such things as car repairs, food, coffee and other services, he said.

“Plus, you are between two expressways with the new entrance ramps for I-76 west. That’s a pretty attractive thing for any marketer,” he said. “We have good access, we have a lot of people. … Those are selling points we highlight” to other businesses.

Horrigan said the city is looking forward to “that whole space becoming more active. So, we’re excited.”

Horrigan said when he first became mayor, his administration had a lot of conversations over what could be done at the Rolling Acres site.

“So I couldn’t be happier about the facility that’s going in,” he said.

The city has upgraded Romig Road infrastructure, including putting down a new cement roadway and improved nearby expressway entrances and exits as part of the project, Horrigan said.

“All of those fit really well with the facility that’s going in,” he said. “We’re excited about the 1,500-plus people that will be going to work there.”

The technology inside the facility is impressive, Horrigan said.

Amazon also has taken numerous steps to protect people inside during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.

“There’s a lot of activity inside,” Horrigan said.

People hired at the Akron facility will pick, pack and ship goods that customers buy “in what we say is a highly technological environment,” spokesman Andre Woodson said. They will work alongside robots and other automated machinery.

“If we can get 1,500 right off the gate, we’re going to hire 1,500 full-time employees,” he said.

Amazon’s online job application for the Akron facility is not yet live. The pull-down menu at summitomj.org, the county’s Ohio Means Jobs site, currently lists jobs at Amazon’s smaller Gilchrist Road delivery station.

Amazon will promote the new job openings using radio and other media, Woodson said.

Amazon has pledged to sustain $30 million in annual payroll for 10 years, with Akron agreeing to a 30-year tax rebate for Amazon.

If Amazon misses its $30 million payroll guarantee, the tax rebate would be lowered proportionally. The project also got $7.1 million in state tax incentives, based on how many workers Amazon hires.

The Akron facility will be Amazon’s seventh fulfillment center in Ohio. The company is building its eighth center near Toledo.

Jim Mackinnon covers business. He can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ