Amazon Expanding In New Jersey; 2,500 New Jobs Expected

CARTERET, NJ — Amazon just opened its largest fulfillment center in New Jersey, and it's in Carteret. The Carteret warehouse will serve as Amazon's main hub in the mid-Atlantic area; from there it will pack and ship items all throughout the region, to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

And on Friday Amazon also announced plans to open three more warehouses, in Edison, Cranbury and Logan Township in South Jersey. The news means Amazon is greatly expanding its footprint in New Jersey and views the state as its main artery to quickly deliver items all over the mid-Atlantic market. Once the three new centers open, that will bring the total number of Amazon warehouses in New Jersey to 10.

The governor's office applauded the news Friday, saying that "under a Christie Administration New Jersey is a state in which economic development is growing and thriving."

However, Amazon's existing operations in the Garden State have not operated without criticism. Last year, Patch reported how Amazon's Robbinsville warehouse was fined by OSHA for workplace safety violations. Amazon failed to report 26 work-related injuries that occurred at the warehouse, including employees who felt their knees “pop” out after lifting boxes, the federal agency said. Amazon said it was contesting the citation.

In all, the new warehouse openings will create more than 2,500 new, full-time jobs, according a report on NJ.com. At one million square feet, the Carteret fulfillment center is the largest in the state. It employs 2,000 employees. Robots fetch items and bring them to workers; otherwise workers would have to walk the length of a football field to retrieve the products, NJ.com reported. The unopened fulfillment center in Logan Township will also be one million square feet. The Logan Township center will pack and ship larger items, such as patio furniture, sports equipment and music equipment.

Both the Cranbury Township and Edison centers will be slightly smaller, at 900,000 square feet. Larger, bulk items will be processed through Cranbury and the Edison facility will handle smaller items, such as books, toys and kitchen items.

“Amazon’s fulfillment centers provide hundreds of full-and part-time jobs for their host communities. Amazon will help to strengthen Edison Township’s commercial tax base and it promises to be a very good corporate neighbor,” said Edison Mayor Thomas Lankey. “Edison is proud to be one of the beneficiaries of this growing e-commerce market."

Amazon's facility in Edison will be at 2170 Rt. 27 near Vineyard Road. The old Frigidaire appliance plant that once stood on that property was demolished and the new distribution center was built there over the past 16 months. The site, which is very close to Rt. 287 and the New Jersey Turnpike, was redeveloped by Seagis Property Group of Conshohocken, PA.

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Photo: An aerial view of two Amazon fulfillment facilities with solar systems on their rooftops. Photo credit: P2 Photography.