Amazon bringing 1,000 jobs to Davenport? City to announce major economic project

By Cara Smith

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    DAVENPORT, Iowa (Quad-City Times) — The city of Davenport and the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce will announce a major economic development project at a press conference Wednesday, according to a city media advisory.

It is widely expected that officials will announce plans for an Amazon fulfillment center north of Interstate 80 and west of the Davenport Municipal Airport.

Davenport city officials approved the development agreement with Seefried Industrial Properties in May, which describes itself on its website as “a longtime Amazon development and project management partner.”

City officials have been tight-lipped about the unnamed company looking to bring those jobs. City officials, Greater Davenport Redevelopment Corporation and Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce, have declined to name the company behind the deal, citing a non-disclosure agreement.

The city, in its application to the Iowa Department of Transportation for grant dollars to cover most of the expenses to upgrade nearby streets and intersections to accommodate increased traffic from the new warehouse development, though, describes the four principles of the company that would occupy the warehouse as: “customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence and long-term thinking.” The language is lifted directly from Amazon’s website.

Additionally, the grant application states that the company had “1,298,000 full-time and part-time employees” at the end of last year. That is the same figure Amazon reported in its 2020 annual financial report.

The unnamed company would look to employ 1,000 positions at a minimum wage of $15 an hour and full benefits within three years, according to Davenport’s grant application. The majority of the positions created would be associates who work selecting, packing and shipping customer orders.

Remaining positions would include salaried managers and human resources and finance professionals, with more than 100 out of the planned 1,000-plus jobs earning $60,000 or more. More than 40 jobs would earn $80,000 or more, per the application.

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