The Kenosha City Council approved an incentive package Monday night for the online retail giant Amazon to build a new distribution center.
To serve its growing clientele, Amazon plans to establish a center along I-94. Amazon is expected to employ at least 1,100 workers with an average hourly wage of more than $13.
While the wages may not be up to par with the auto industry jobs that left Kenosha in recent years, the new jobs are enthusiastically embraced by Mayor Keith Bosman: “For someone who's making $7 or $8 an hour, 13 or 14 is a big step up, especially with the benefits that the company will be providing.”
To seal the deal, the Kenosha city council approved a $17 million incentive package Monday night. The city will eventually recoup the money through a tax incremental financing district.
The grant, however, was not among the top reasons Amazon choose Kenosha, according to Jeffrey Zygler of KTR Capital Partners, a New York firm that will build the structure for Amazon. “The location — both a major metropolitan area as well as infrastructure — is a big item, the employee base — there's good labor here — and you're right next to I-94.”
Amazon is the latest in a series of companies that have chosen sites in Kenosha County. One municipality is starting to get picky on the types of developments it authorizes. The Village of Pleasant Prairie has established a new land use designation that encourages the development of high-paying manufacturing and corporate office jobs and discourages straight warehouses.
