Amazon takes Jones County up on being open for business | Free News

Over 150 jobs created with new delivery station

Roughly a year ago, Gov. Tate Reeves said that Mississippi was open for business as he visited Ellisville with the ribbon-cutting ceremony of Cold Link Logistics. A year later, Free State leaders used that term about Jones County and neighboring counties as they celebrated the opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the new Amazon delivery station in Moselle. 

“We are celebrating the newest opening of our newest delivery station in the Hattiesburg regional area,” Amazon’s Senior Manager of Economic Development Jessica Breaux said. “This facility is part of our broader Amazon delivery network, but specifically, it helps us get orders to customers faster. We take in packages that have been prepared for shipment and process those, and get them on our delivery vans to go out to customers.” 

The delivery station is approximately 85,000 square feet and houses thousands of items to get to the addresses they need to go. It is located in the airport’s I-59 Supply Chain Park. Delivery stations receive processed packages, sort them by zip code and load them onto delivery vans for the final delivery to customers. 

“We also have a selection of curated items that customers in this region most commonly order. That allows us to process those orders in this building to get those items to customers even faster,” Breaux said. “Generally, customers who are being served by this facility will be able to get packages with same-day shipping, or within one to two day Prime delivery. That is the goal.” 

The delivery station employs over 150 people, and Amazon is still in the process of hiring more employees. Amazon facilities have been popping up across the state as Marshall County, Lee County, Madison County and Oktibbeha County have all partnered with the global company.

“In addition to the employees in the facility, we also have delivery service providers,” Breaux said. “They are team members who go out and make deliveries. They are employed by third-party partners that operate in the building. We have roughly the same number of delivery service partners as we do employees in the building.” 

Breaux went on to say that Amazon was excited to have the facility in the Pine Belt and that employees also have ties to the area. 

“We were excited to partner here. We worked closely with Jones County and Forrest County, as well as the airport. We are excited to bring all of these jobs to the community. We recognize the opportunities it brings for residents. Most of the employees hired here are local or have ties to the area,” Breaux said. “For instance, both Keith (Carver) and Charity (Gaviorno) have connections to the area, and both have lived here for a while. Charity came back to Mississippi after working at Amazon for several years, so it is cool to see the building here. It gives some of our employees a chance to return home.” 

Carver works as the site lead of the facility, while Gaviorno is the operations manager. Breaux said they are the two leads that make everything at the facility happen. 

“I’m originally from Mississippi and went to school at the University of Southern Mississippi,” Gaviorno said. “I started with Amazon five years ago in Boston, and just transferred from Raleigh, North Carolina, back to here. I’m happy to be back closer to family and delivering quality products.”  

Carver, a Biloxi native, shared those same sentiments, saying, “I went to Mississippi State University and met my wife, who is from Hattiesburg. I worked in several roles with Amazon, but when this facility opened up, it was the perfect opportunity to settle downa nd not travel as much. Hopefully, we will grow our volume and reach customers faster.” 

Jones County Board of Supervisors President Phil Dickerson said that Amazon coming to the area is just another opportunity for residents to be able to have a good job. 

“It just means a bigger opportunity for Jones County and the workforce here,” Dickerson said. “They are offering full and part-time jobs, so I’m glad it’s coming to Jones County. We were also able to work through a relationship with the airport authority and Forrest County.” 

He also understands that most residents shop online, and getting things faster is what people want. 

“That is the wave of the future, that someone can order something online and have it the next day or just a day or two later in the same week,” he said. 

Jones County has seen an economic boom, and Dickerson said it is a two-way street. First, there has to be space available, and businesses have to be willing to come see what the county has to offer. 

“It is exciting to see (businesses coming to Jones County). We have a couple of places looking around the Ellisville area, near the Howard Industrial Park. You have to put it out there and incentivise them to come, and then they have to want to come,” Dickerson said. “It is like Cold Link. We are hoping in the near future they are going to expand and open their second addition, which would be great for Jones County. We are open for business.” 

Economic Development Authority President Ross Tucker echoed Dickerson’s comments, saying how great of an opportunity it is to have Amazon coming to the Pine Belt. 

“A wonderful opportunity has been brought to the area. Our cooperation with the Hattiesburg-Laurel Regional Airport, as well as with Forrest County and the ADP, has made this become a reality,” Tucker said. “This started about two years ago, when these facilities started popping up around the state of Mississippi.” 

He continued, “Amazon brought this to us some years ago. We looked at it, and several different sites across the community, and they settled on this one because it is in close proximity to better service Laurel, all the way down to Hattiesburg, Ellisville, Petal and all of the other communities.” 

Tucker said Amazon wanted visibility from the interstate, with Tucker saying the spot they chose and one other spot in Jones County was the last available spot that accomplished that. 

“It all became a reality,” he said. “The whole essence of this is that this was a piece of property that was not in use. It was bought and paid for 50 or 60 years ago by the public entities of Forrest and Jones Counties, and today, it is being put into service. It is a sizable capital investment that will benefit all of the counties and school districts.” 

If you make the trip by the building on the interstate, chances are you’ll likely miss it because there are no signs on the building. Tucker said, though, that doesn’t mean that the company isn’t making an economic impact. 

“There are a lot of people who work here daily, and a tremendous amount of capital investment that’s been poured into this site. We are a community that is a job hub for the Pine Belt,” Tucker said. “The Howards’ expansion, Amick Farms’ recent announcement, and that we have some other announcements on the horizon with new opportunities on sites that we’ve prepared like this one. These are big things for Jones County.” 

While there are sites left that the EDA is pitching to companies, Tucker said they are trying to fill them up, thus creating more opportunities for locals, and continuing to stay open for business.

“We are filling them up, whether it is small portions or large portions, small footprints or big footprints, anything that elevates the wage amount in the county, helps everyone. It is also a situation where we are ready for the next one, and we are ready for the next one for the next five or six years until we are out of land,” he said.