CHICAGO – Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot today joined Alderman Anthony A. Beale (9th Ward), David Doig, President, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI), Jim McDonald, President, Ryan Companies, and Dominic Wilkerson, Senior Station Operations Manager, Amazon Logistics to formally launch Amazon’s new Pullman delivery station. The new 150,000 square-foot facility in Pullman will power the online retailer’s last-mile delivery capabilities to speed up deliveries for customers in the Chicago Metro area, and further expand Amazon’s robust logistics network in Illinois. This new facility will bring more than 200 new full- and part-time jobs that provide an industry-leading minimum wage of $15 an hour and comprehensive benefits, all starting on day one.

“Amazon’s investment in Pullman is the latest vote of confidence for our city and the proud residents of this historic community, which is undergoing a renaissance,” said Mayor Lightfoot. “The story of our city’s future is being written in Pullman, and we look forward to continuing to work with our business partners on our shared journey toward a more inclusive and equitable future.”

As identified by Chicago’s COVID-19 Recovery Task Force, the pandemic has accelerated e-commerce trends making Transportation, Distribution and Logistics (TDL) especially critical to the city’s recovery. Last-mile delivery stations play a strong role in enabling Amazon Logistics to supplement capacity and provide greater flexibility to Amazon’s delivery capabilities. With this new facility Amazon will not only play a pivotal role in the city’s economic recovery from the pandemic, but will also be instrumental in uplifting Chicago’s position as a national leader in TDL.

In addition to its commitment to hiring workers who live in and around Pullman, as part of the launch celebration and giving back to the communities in which it operates, Amazon also donated $25,000 to The Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago and $25,000 to La Casa Norte. Since 2010, Amazon has created more than 23,000+ jobs in Illinois and invested more than $8+ billion across the state, including infrastructure and compensation and helped create more than 20,500 indirect jobs in construction, logistics and professional services, on top of its direct hires.

“From Whole Foods, Method, Gotham Greens, and now Amazon, Pullman continues to attract partners that see the wealth of opportunities and talent found in this neighborhood,” said Alderman Beale. “I want to thank Amazon for not only its commitment to Chicago, but its dedication to neighborhoods, like Pullman bringing much needed jobs and resources to the area.”

As a company, Amazon also empowers aspiring entrepreneurs to start their own package delivery company through the Delivery Service Partner program. Since the program launched in summer 2018, Amazon has supported the launch of more than 1,300 new small businesses globally who have hired tens of thousands of local driver jobs to make package deliveries. More than 50,000 independent authors and small and medium businesses in Illinois are selling to customers in Amazon’s store, creating thousands more jobs across the state.

“There are a lot of contributing factors that go into our thought process when we consider where to place a new delivery station. Among those factors is the workforce and we found talent in abundance in Pullman,” said Domonic Wilkerson, Sr. Station Operations Manager, Amazon Logistics. “We’re proud to be a job creator, especially in times of economic uncertainty and we’re incredibly thankful for the partnership with the City of Chicago, Alderman Beale, the Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives and the many community partners who have been instrumental in supporting us.”

Amazon is the latest company in the last decade that has opened operations in Pullman Park. Starting with Method Products, which opened its first U.S. plant in 2014, the Pullman neighborhood has since become home of Gotham Greens, which recently built a second free-standing greenhouse in the Park, and Whole Foods which relocated its Midwest distribution center from Indiana to Pullman Park in 2017. Prior to the opening of the industrial park, the neighborhood welcomed its first shopping center which is anchored by Walmart, and includes a fitness center, clothing store, and the recent addition of a food court with a Potbelly’s restaurant and soon home of the City’s second Culver’s Restaurant.

“While the Pullman/Roseland Calumet area is exceptional – with its unmatched access infrastructure and access to the world by road, rail, water or air, what has made revitalization work is a partnership - between the community, its Alderman, its development institutions and our ability to find partners in the private sector and City Hall”, said CNI President David Doig. “Pullman builds on its assets and that is a formula all communities can employ.”

Announced last year, the INVEST South/West initiative comprehensively focuses planning and funding tools along targeted corridors that have historically served as focal points for pedestrian activity, retail, services, transportation, public spaces and quality-of-life amenities for local residents. The revival of the Pullman/Roseland community serves as a model of transformational development that prioritizes community input, jobs and small business opportunity, affordable housing, and retail. Earlier week, the City celebrated the groundbreaking of a new Culver’s restaurant just south of the Amazon facility made possible with funding from the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF) which further strengthens commercial corridors on Chicago’s South, Southwest and West sides. For more information about the NOF and past awardees, click here.