News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
A new Amazon operations site in Nashville could bring more people and business to the Upper Cumberland.
Cookeville Mayor Ricky Shelton says the announcement impacts more than just the Nashville metropolitan area.
“It’s exciting for our region and the city and county as well because there will be opportunities for folks who live here to work there,” Shelton says, “and I’m sure there will be people moving to Tennessee due to the new Amazon center so it’s an opportunity if they want to live in a smaller town, and we’d be a perfect location for that.”
Amazon announced Tuesday it would invest nearly $230 million for a new logistics facility employing roughly 5,000 corporate and tech-related jobs.
Shelton says having the likes of Tennessee Tech and other technological programs in the region will allow more graduates to stay in the area with the addition of Amazon.
“They’re a great asset as evident by SAIC locating here about two years ago now and of course the new jobs at ATC, both being high-tech jobs,” Shelton says. “They all said that Tennessee Tech was a big driver for that. The future is very bright for Cookeville, Putnam County, and our region.”
Governor Bill Haslam thanked state officials for their work in trying to attract Amazon to the Music City.
“All of these deals that we get to stand up and announce are because we have a General Assembly who gets it and understands we want to create the environment where people will create jobs,” Haslam says. “This is the largest jobs announcement in the history of the state of Tennessee.”
The Nashville announcement comes just after the online shopping giant selected Northern Virginia and New York City as the locations of its eastern headquarters.
