Twitter, Google, and Microsoft have all established a significant presence in Detroit during the past few years, helping legitimize the Motor City as a place on the rebound, and now Amazon will join them.
The Seattle-based online retailer announced today that it will open a downtown technology hub (whatever that means) and a corporate office at 150 W. Jefferson. Mayor Mike Duggan and Governor Rick Snyder will both be on hand at a press conference later this morning to announce the deal.
According to a report in Crain’s Detroit Business, Peter Faricy, an Amazon Marketplace vice president and University of Michigan alum, said the company plans to expand its 100-person operation that’s already in place at West Jefferson. “We are expanding to multiple floors in our current building to accommodate the goals for our presence in Michigan and hiring plans to bring the great local talent to Amazon,” Faricy said.
Faricy, who also spent some time working for Ford before joining Amazon, said the company’s long-term plan is to add tech jobs in Michigan, which Faricy described as a “rapidly growing technology corridor.”
At the press conference this morning, Amazon will also announce a donation of $10,000 and 30 Amazon Fire tablets to Detroit Public Schools’ Carver STEM Academy.
Amazon typically keeps fairly quiet on these kinds of announcements, so it’s not known yet how many people are expected to work at the expanded Amazon venture in Detroit, or what, exactly, those in the office will be working on. If we get more details, we’ll update this post.
