STARK COUNTY

Amazon fulfillment center in Canton still 'on track'

Kelly Byer
The Repository
Amazon says it still plans to open its new fulfillment center at 4747 Rebar Ave. NE in Canton this year, despite the company recently announcing that it was laying off 9,000 workers.
  • Amazon announced last week that it would lay off 9,000 employees.
  • A company spokeswoman said the Amazon fulfillment center in Canton is 'on track' to open this year.
  • Roadwork to provide access to Amazon from U.S. Route 62 is "substantially complete," said Canton Mayor Thomas Bernabei.

CANTON − The Amazon fulfillment center along Columbus Road and Kirby Avenue NE is "on track to launch this year," company spokeswoman Paula Morrison says.

"We look forward to launching our new facility in Canton," she said, adding that more details will be shared at a later date.

Amazon announced recently that it would lay off 9,000 employees, primarily in its cloud computing unit, human resources division, advertising and Twitch. That was in addition to cutting thousands of jobs in January and late 2022.

Amazon says it still plans to open its new fulfillment center at 4747 Rebar Ave. NE in Canton this year, despite the company recently announcing that it was laying off 9,000 workers.

However, Mayor Thomas Bernabei said Amazon officials have told him the Canton facility will open this year along with one in Cincinnati needed for regional distribution.

"They are saying they will begin hiring this year," he said in an email. "There are no confirmed dates or numbers of hires but speculatively in late spring / early summer."

Amazon built its gigantic warehouse at the former Skyland Pines Golf Club . When the project was announced in late 2021, officials expected the distribution center to employ about 1,000 people.

It was supposed to open last year, but the company postponed the opening until this year.

Bernabei said the reconstruction of Rebar Avenue NE to provide access to Amazon from U.S. Route 62 with a traffic signal at the intersection is "substantially complete."

"There are improvements regarding the overall traffic flow on Route 62 being done by ODOT which will be complete by October of this year," he added.

Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.comOn Twitter: @kbyerREP

Amazon says it still plans to open its new fulfillment center at 4747 Rebar Ave. NE in Canton this year, despite the company recently announcing that it was laying off 9,000 workers.