Updated 5:08 p.m.

Amazon will create 1,500 full-time jobs when it opens its fulfillment center next summer in Troutdale, the online retailer confirmed Wednesday.

The $178.4 million facility, where online orders will be filled, packed and shipped, will be the first of its kind in Oregon and provide a needed economic boost for the eastern Multnomah County community.

The 855,000-square-foot plant will fill vacant lots at the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park, occupying 74 acres between the Troutdale airport and a FedEx Ground facility. Construction will begin this year and wrap up by July 2018, the Gresham Outlook has reported.

The Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park is a 700-acre former brownfield site located between the Columbia and Sandy Rivers. The Amazon fulfillment center is slated to occupy lots 6, 7 and 8.

"Amazon's expansion in Oregon brings us great jobs with competitive wages and bright futures for its employees and communities," said Gov. Kate Brown, who visited the facility site Wednesday with local and company officials.

Amazon's vice president of North America operations, Akash Chauhan, confirmed the number of jobs at Wednesday's event.

The Troutdale City Council unanimously approved a five-year tax break for Amazon beginning in 2019 worth about $9.6 million, The Outlook reported.

As a condition of building inside an enterprise zone – an area where companies are encouraged to build in exchange for a property tax break – Amazon has agreed to pay workers at least 125 percent of the minimum wage. Due to scheduled minimum wage increases, this means workers hired next summer would make $15 an hour, though the wage calculation may include health care benefits.

According to the governor's office, benefits packages for full-time employees also include a 401(k) retirement accounts, company stock awards and parental leave.

In addition, full-time workers also get access to a program that pre-pays as much as 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields. Workers can use the program to pursue degrees that have nothing to do with Amazon, including game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming, radiology.



Troutdale City Councilor Larry Morgan said he's been impressed by Amazon's commitment to healthy wages, comprehensive benefits and tuition assistance. "Not only is it world-class, it's a national model," he said.

Leaders gathered at the future site of an Amazon fulfillment center in Troutdale on Wednesday, June, 7, 2017. Gov. Kate Brown is center, Troutdale City Councilor Larry Morgan is second from left and Troutdale Mayor Casey Ryan is far right.

The eastern portion of Multnomah County has struggled to recover from the Great Recession, he said.

A 2016 presentation by the Oregon Employment Department shows that while overall earnings in Portland rose 13 percent between 2007 and 2014, earnings in East Portland declined 7 percent, and Gresham earnings fell 13 percent. Troutdale, which in 2016 had an estimated 16,617 residents, is five miles northeast of Gresham.

Employment numbers tell a similar story. While Portland saw a 10 percent growth in jobs between 2010 and 2014, East Portland only saw a 5 percent growth in employment, and Gresham saw a 3 percent boost. In addition, East County has the highest concentration of poverty in Oregon, with 25 percent of residents living below the poverty line. A quarter of Gresham's residents live in poverty, as well.

Often, residents move to the area for cheaper housing, only to find themselves commuting long hours or working low-paying jobs, Morgan said. The Amazon facility will give residents an opportunity to earn a living wage without leaving the community, he said.



"It's the best of both worlds," Morgan said.



But the increased investment will inevitably bring challenges. Higher earnings likely will push home values up. Affordable housing will be the area's next challenge, Morgan said. In the meantime, Troutdale has plenty of land to sell to other companies looking to locate near Portland.



"It's just the beginning," he said.

Seattle-based Amazon reported nearly $136 billion in sales in 2016. Nearly two-thirds of all internet users, or 155 million, visited its website in the first quarter, MarketWatch reported this week, and its stock crossed the four-digit mark last week. The company is worth $479.4 billion.

Its other Oregon outposts include a sortation center in Hillsboro, a Prime Now hub in Portland and data centers in various Eastern Oregon locations. It also employs hundreds in downtown Portland through video-encoding company AWS Elemental.

-- Anna Marum

amarum@oregonian.com

503-294-5911

@annamarum

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