By Sam Wroblewski 630wpro.com
The Fall River Herald reports the state of Massachusetts has given the go-ahead to offer tax incentives to internet retail giant Amazon to build a one million square-foot shipping facility in Fall River.
Fall River officials told WPRO they were ready to seal the deal with Amazon, but were waiting for state level tax incentives to be approved in addition to the local incentives already offered by the city; the approval was granted by the state’s Economic Assistance Coordinating Council Tuesday.
At one point, Rhode Island was one of three potential states Amazon was looking at to open a another New England shipping center, however Fall River’s spacious and permit-ready land parcels proved to be the deciding factor.
Governor Gina Raimondo said the state needs to try harder to attract large companies like Amazon.
“Honestly it drives me crazy they are going to have 500 jobs opening in Fall River a few miles up the road; they could be in Rhode Island,” said Raimondo.
The large item shipping facility is estimated to create 500 full time jobs with an average salary of $35,000 a year. Additionally, between 200 and 300 additional jobs are expected to be created by other companies looking to do business with, and near the new shipping center.
The facility will only process large-item orders like refrigerators and televisions.
