Goodyear Mayor Georgia Lord was gushing Wednesday, Aug. 19 as she announced the pending opening of Amazon’s fourth facility in the city, a high-tech robotics center that will be the company’s first such facility in the Valley and second in the state.

“Amazon’s confidence just shows we’re doing it right in Goodyear,” Ms. Lord said in a video on the city’s website and social media sites. “Even during the pandemic, Goodyear continues to welcome business after business. We just can’t get enough Amazon in Goodyear."

Now under construction on Bullard Avenue just north of Interstate 10, the sprawling facility is scheduled to open by the end of the year. It will employ more than 1,000 people working alongside Amazon robots to pick, pack and ship smaller customer items such as books, toys and kitchenware.

With a footprint of 855,000 square feet and 2.3 million square feet over four stories (the size of about 40 football fields), the facility is the largest building ever built in Goodyear, Ms. Lord said.

Amazon, which has been in Arizona for 13 years and in Goodyear for a little more than a decade, employs 17,500 full- and part-time employees across the state.

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“The talent and the labor force in Arizona have been a great partner over the last 13 years,” said Matthew High, regional director of Amazon Fulfillment. “We’ve had a great relationship with the community, as well as the local officials, and we’re excited to continue growing out here.”

With a fifth Amazon facility adding another 1,000 jobs when it opens in Goodyear in 2021, the company will become the city’s largest employer, with about 3,000 employees total.

That facility will receive large orders of inventory and redistribute products to fulfillment centers across the company’s operations network, Mr. High said.

Goodyear also is home to an Amazon delivery station and an office team that supports fulfillment operations worldwide.

“It just makes me smile to have this partnership with Amazon,” Ms. Lord said. “The future is very bright in the city of Goodyear, and we are thrilled that Amazon will contribute to our continued growth.”

Amazon is one of several technology companies moving to the city’s rapidly-expanding technology corridor on Bullard Avenue near I-10, Ms. Lord said. The corridor has enhanced fiber capacity and power resources, and is bolstered by the location of nearby data centers, including Compass and Vantage.

“We have a highly skilled workforce, we have the infrastructure, we have the land, and we have an incredible city,” she said. “There’s a reason why we are the 14th fastest-growing city in the nation according to the most recent census numbers.”

Not everyone was thrilled with the news, however.

“Stop building so much commercial property in our neighborhoods, you will push middle class out and crime will increase,” Aaron Thornbury commented on the city’s Facebook announcement. “No idea why you think this is a good idea. Look at Phoenix.”

“More low-wage jobs!” Aaron James commented.