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Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey said Wednesday an Amazon.com distribution center announced for South Carolina is not the same project as one proposed for Chattanooga.
“The Amazon project here is still on go,” Ramsey said.
Wednesday, officials in South Carolina said Amazon plans to build a distribution facility on 90 acres in Lexington County near Cayce, S.C.
A report in The State newspaper said plans call for creating 1,249 jobs. That’s the identical number officials said last week that Amazon would hire at the Chattanooga facility.
But Ramsey said the South Carolina center is an additional facility for the big online retailer, terming it and the Chattanooga project “simultaneous.” Area officials are trying to finalize a deal with Amazon for the company to put up centers in Chattanooga and Bradley County.
Mark Drury of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development said he had nothing to add on the Southeast Tennessee projects beyond a news release issued last week. Then, the state confirmed Amazon is in negotiations concerning the Hamilton and Bradley centers.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press first reported the Amazon story on its website last week.
Amazon has said it is looking at building 1 million-square-foot fulfillment centers at both Tennessee locations. It would hire about 1,400 people and could create more than 2,000 more jobs on a seasonal basis, officials said.
Contact staff writer Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.