MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- Online retail giant Amazon.com held the official ground breaking Thursday for a new fulfillment center in Murfreesboro.
Construction is already well underway on the million square foot warehouse on Joe B. Jackson Parkway. Amazon says the facility will eventually employ 1300 people.
In comments during the ceremony, Amazon spokesman Mark Mazano promised the online retailer will eventually invest a total of 350 million dollars in Tennessee and employ about 3500 people.
Rutherford County Mayor Ernest Burgess was one of several local dignitaries on hand to welcome Amazon.
"Thank you to all of you that have invested in Amazon, and all of you that have worked so hard to make this possible," Mayor Burgess said. "We know that nothing can be more stressful than families without income and without jobs. This is going to make a lot of our families even more successful and happy and I'm just so proud of that. When they're successful all of us are successful; our communities are, our cities and counties."
Amazon hopes to finish the Murfreesboro fulfillment center this fall in time for Christmas shopping, the company’s busiest season.