Amazon opens fulfillment center in Ruskin

RUSKIN (FOX 13) - Governor Rick Scott spoke at online retail giant, Amazon's Ruskin warehouse Wednesday, praising the company for bringing thousands of jobs to Florida.

The governor's speech also provided a rare glimpse into the faclilty for media and local dignitaries.

Amazon calls the Ruskin facility a fulfillment center and it's responsible for picking, packing and shipping items for most orders to Florida. The warehouse is the size of 28 football fields, according to Amazon officials.

It uses a workforce of hundreds of robots which retrieve items and deliver them to human packers. Then the items are sent on miles of conveyor belts where they're sorted and delivered right into the back of delivery trucks. The entire process can be as quick as a few minutes on certain items.

"Minutes from the click it could happen, based on what kind of delivery option you choose," said Chris Monnot, general manager of the Ruskin fulfillment center.

Scott praised Amazon for hiring 2,500 workers at the Ruskin location. It has another fulfillment center in Lakeland and other facilities across the state, employing 4,000 employees total.

"What's exciting today is 2,500 jobs right here at Amazon. I look forward to them adding more jobs and I'm excited about the 4,000 they already have in the great state of Florida," said Scott.