DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A new Amazon fulfillment center is coming to Daytona Beach and city leaders said it’ll bring 1,000 jobs with it.
The 2.8 million square foot, five-story complex will be built on a 211-acre field right across the street from the airport on Beville Road.
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Mayor Derrick Henry said the jobs will be paid a minimum of $15 per hour and have benefits. He said the jobs are needed in the area.
“Of course, the pay is not $30 or $40 an hour but it’s above our median pay. The average employee will make $31,000 a year and some change. Right now, we’re under $25,000,” he said.
City commissioners voted six to one on Wednesday night to approve the development of the site and give Amazon a $4 million tax exemption over a five-year period.
That was the reason commissioner Ken Strickland voted against it.
“Why in the world are we going to give a company that is that strong financially $4 million?” he said on Wednesday.
Mayor Henry said without the tax incentives, the company could have gone to another city.
He said they will do what it takes to bring jobs in and hopes other surrounding companies will follow the $15 an hour minimum pay.
“Daytona Beach has a higher unemployment rate than all of Volusia County. We are at about a 6.4%. The rest of Volusia County is just over 4%,” he said.
Construction is expected to start sometime late 2022 and the city said in order for the company to get the tax incentive, it must be almost completely built by the end of 2023.