Amazon, one of the world’s most successful companies, is building a new distribution center in the city’s Twin Rivers Industrial Park on the south edge of North Platte.

The center is located along Business Park Drive, one of a few new streets in the business and industrial park. The location is just a couple blocks north of E. State Farm Road.

The industrial park is mostly comprised of warehouses. FedEx, Coors Distributing, Frito Lay and K&M Tire have distribution centers there.

Amazon spokesman Andy DiOrio said Tuesday that the new center will be a last-mile delivery station.

He said the goal is to finish the construction late this year.

“These types of facilities power the last mile of Amazon’s order process and help speed up deliveries,” DiOrio told the Bulletin. “Packages are shipped to a delivery station from neighboring Amazon Fulfillment and Sortation Centers, loaded into delivery vehicles and delivered to customers. This facility is a response to customer demand.”

Construction is in the early stages, with groundwork, footings and foundations in various stages of development.

DiOrio said that hiring traditionally ramps up 30 days before the opening. He said the company will have a better idea of the number of employees that will be needed closer to the launch date.

“Generally, these types of facilities are staffed by a smaller team of part-time employees who work a flexible schedule that suits their availability and needs,” he said.

According to city records, the center will span 34,750 square feet, which is more than half the size of a football field. A building permit was issued in late March. The estimated cost is expected to be around $8.5 million. WDS Construction, headquartered in Beaver Dam, Wisc., is the general contractor.

Amazon purchased five acres of land, or 217,800 sq. ft., for the facility.

CEO Gary Person of the Chamber and Development Corp. said the project was discussed for several months but kept quiet under a non-disclosure agreement with Amazon.

Nationally, Amazon is investing $4 billion through 2026 to expand its rural delivery network and increase the pace of delivery to customers in less densely populated areas, the company said on May 1 in a report to stockholders.

The company’s net income reached an impressive $17.1 billion in the first quarter of this year, compared with $10.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024, the report said.

Person said Amazon took notice when DevCo added more streets and utilities in the industrial park during the last year. In April 2024, the city council awarded a $1.225 million contract to Level, LLC, to build Iron Trail Drive and Business Park Drive. The costs will be recouped over 20 years through recently approved fees that businesses in the park pay.

“Distribution has always been one of the primary goals of the business park,” Person said, “and now we have several such tenants. Having a shovel-ready business park is critical for these types of projects choosing North Platte.”

DiOrio said Amazon looks for “locations that provide robust public infrastructure, a strong, dedicated workforce, and great local support – and we continue to find all those factors in Nebraska.”

The new distribution center, when it becomes operational, could ease the strain on the U.S. Postal Service in the area, which is currently delivering Amazon packages the “last mile” to North Platte as well as rural addresses in a wide area. It is not unusual for letter carriers in North Platte to work until 9 p.m. to deliver mail and packages because of the workload.

(This report was updated Tuesday afternoon with information directly from Amazon.)

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