Amazon Distribution Center coming to North Mankato

NORTH MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -Another addition to the area’s industrial sector, construction is underway on an Amazon distribution center in North Mankato’s north industrial district.

The 60-thousand square foot facility will act as the final stop for packages being delivered to the Mankato area, what is known as a “last mile center”.

This Amazon distribution center coming to North Mankato is smaller compared to other Amazon facilities. Primary focus is being a place where couriers like USPS, UPS and FedEx will pick up amazon packages to be delivered.

The building is expected to open around December of this year and add 75 jobs.

The city of North Mankato said that the company approached them with the proposal for the distribution center, hoping to make it a hub for much of southern Minnesota.

“They knew where they wanted to be in the market, and liked the land that we had in terms of size and for the transportation system that they can easily get to Highway 14 and easily get to Highway 169,” said Mike Fischer, Community Development Director for the city of North Mankato.

The center will join an existing group of hubs from nationwide companies making their footprint in the Mankato area, such as the Walmart Distribution Center and Gordini, which opened its own distribution center in the same industrial park one year ago.

Local economic experts said that the growth in the industrial sector should help ease some of the concerns with the current economy.

“We’ve got generator manufacturing, we’ve got ag and now we’ve got this distribution center cluster that’s growing,” said Ryan Vesey with Greater Mankato Growth. ”We make sure that we’re balanced, and if there is an economic challenge it usually doesn’t impact all clusters the same at the same time.”

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