SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced an expansion of its Denver Tech Hub and plans to create 400 new high-tech jobs in fields including software and hardware engineering, cloud computing, and advertising. To accommodate this job creation, Amazon will open a new office in downtown Denver – joining the company’s Boulder office which opened last fall – and allowing the company to more than double its tech workforce in the Denver area. Together with its customer fulfillment and retail facilities, the company has created more than 3,500 full-time jobs in Colorado.
“We’re excited to continue to grow and invest in the Denver area,” said Dave Wood, Site Lead for Amazon’s Denver Tech Hub. “Our new office will offer our teams the convenience of a downtown location with an array of outdoor adventures just up the road.”
“I’m so excited that Amazon is adding 400 more jobs in Colorado. We have a terrific workforce that continues to attract the ideas and businesses that thrive in a knowledge-based economy and we are a great place to do business,” said Governor Jared Polis. “Amazon’s current Colorado presence spans from distribution centers to robotics, corporate and operations. It’s wonderful to see their continued investment in our community.”
“As a growing thriving tech city it's no surprise Amazon has chosen to expand their Denver workforce,” said Representative Alex Valdez. “Our people and quality of life are second to none. We're excited to see more quality tech jobs coming to our great city.”
“Amazon’s continued growth in Metro Denver highlight the value in our investments in place-making, talent development, and global connectivity,” said Sam Bailey, Vice President, Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation. “We are thrilled to partner with Amazon on this significant opportunity for our community.”
Amazon has more than 350 employees in the Denver area building new products and services for the company’s retail and advertising businesses, as well as Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon’s new 98,000 square foot office will be located in Invesco’s 1515 Wynkoop LEED® Platinum building in Denver’s Lower Downtown neighborhood. Amazon’s Denver Tech Hub is one of the company’s 17 North American Tech Hubs – a network of development centers in addition to Amazon’s Seattle and Arlington headquarters. Together, these Hubs have more than 20,000 employees, innovating for Amazon customers around the world.
Recognized on LinkedIn’s Top Companies list for the past four years in the U.S., Amazon provides comprehensive benefits to its employees, including healthcare from day one, 401(k) with 50 percent match and flexible parental leave — from the company’s most senior executives to its hourly FC associates. Amazon also offers a range of programs to equip job seekers and employees with the skills they need for new, in-demand jobs, from paid cloud computing apprenticeships for military veterans, to its innovative Career Choice program, which pre-pays 95% of tuition for courses in in-demand fields, regardless of whether skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. To date, more than 12,000 employees have participated in Career Choice in the United States, pursuing degrees in healthcare, information technology, and many more areas of study.
Investing and creating jobs in Colorado
Amazon has invested over $1.5 billion in Colorado over the last three years alone, including infrastructure, compensation and Whole Foods Market. The company estimates that these direct investments in the state contributed more than $1 billion to Colorado’s economy (2016-2018) and generated over 8,000 indirect jobs, 3,700 of them created by Amazon’s direct suppliers. There are also more than 45,000 authors, developers, and small and medium-sized businesses in Colorado growing their businesses with Amazon.
As part of Amazon’s ongoing commitment to the community, the company has brought the Amazon Future Engineer program to Colorado this year. Amazon Future Engineer – a childhood-to-career program to inspire, educate and propel children and young adults from underserved and underrepresented communities to pursue careers in computer science – is providing 28 high schools across Colorado, including 14 in the Denver-area, with computer science courses. Schools and students throughout Colorado have also benefitted from Amazon Future Engineer robotics grants and Coding with Kids coding classes. This month, Amazon surprised STEM Launch in Thornton with a $25,000 donation to support the K-8 school’s Family Makerspace. Additionally, Amazon's Denver area fulfillment centers have donated thousands of pounds of food and needed products to support families in need through Food Bank of the Rockies.
Over the past seven years, the company has invested more than $160 billion in the U.S., including corporate offices, development and research centers, fulfillment infrastructure, and compensation to its employees.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
