Amazon: The Thread | 5,000 Jobs | 1M SQFT in Nashville Yards

[markhollin]

Here is coverage of Metro Council's 30-3 vote to approve the $17.5 million incentive package for Amazon. It will be limited to 5,000 jobs (even though Amazon may actually increase the number they will  hire).  The council also voted to make a request to Music City Center to offer surplus money to fund the incentives, mirroring its action earlier this month when approving a $3.6M incentive to AllianceBernstein. 

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2019/03/19/nashville-metro-council-approves-17-5-m-amazon-incentive/3212031002/

[markhollin]

Holly Sullivan, the Nashville native who works for Amazon and was key in spearheading their operations set-up here, said things are going to start moving quickly now that Metro Council has approved the incentive package:  "We’ll continue with our engagement in the community not only with nonprofit organizations and Tennessee State University but also other higher education, technical schools on career-development opportunities to start building that talent pipeline. We’re also going to start posting some jobs. Our goal is to hire over 400 people by the end of the year." 

Initially, they will be located in the SunTrust Building downtown while construction is underway at Nashville Yards. 

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/03/20/with-metro-incentive-deal-okd-heres-what-amazon.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[markhollin]

Chart that Nashville Business Journal put together showing how the job scales/salaries will be split on the Amazon expansion in Nashville.

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/04/12/amazons-nashvillejobs-and-wages-in-one-pie-chart.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

 

[Craiger]

5 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Chart that Nashville Business Journal put together showing how the job scales/salaries will be split on the Amazon expansion in Nashville.

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/04/12/amazons-nashvillejobs-and-wages-in-one-pie-chart.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

 

 

Key paragraph:

Quote

The chart's pie pieces show how Amazon's Nashville jobs break down by position. The wages shown in the chart, meanwhile, are the current median wages for such professions in Davidson County, according to government data. Amazon says 90 percent to 95 percent of the workers in each pie slice will earn more than that respective dollar amount.

 

[markhollin]

Amazon has landed a $2.4 million permit for build-out of 4 floors of the SunTrust Plaza as temporary home for staffing until their Church Street towers in Nashville Yards are complete.

More behind the Nashville Post paywall here:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/development/commercial-real-estate/article/21065014/suntrust-plaza-space-prepped-for-amazon

[AUNash]

Taking floors 2, 3, 10, and 11. 10 was recently vacated by KPMG, and 11 was Universal Music.

[markhollin]

Amazon adds another 15,000 sq. ft. of space, this time in L&C Tower's Annex Building at 159 4th Ave. North.  This will house part of the 1,000 employees temporarily over the next few years until their buildings in Nashville Yards are complete in mid-2021.  As mentioned last week, another 80,000 sq. ft. was nabbed in the SunTrust Tower.

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/04/24/amazon-nabs-more-nashville-office-space-aiming-for.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

The distance of just 1/10th of a mile between the to locations:

 

[AUNash]

10th floor elevator lobby at SunTrust Plaza, where Amazon has taken KPMG’s former office space.

[MLBrumby]

Is that a DHL delivery package? 

Edited May 3, 2019 by MLBrumby

[markhollin]

Amazon wants to make a statement about tech in Nashville and Tennessee.  "This is a real opportunity to take Nashville to that next level of a diverse tech economy and really change the conversation of what tech looks like in the Southeast," Amazon official Holly Sullivan told Metro's Industrial Development Board at its May 9 meeting.

"When you think of tech, you think of New York, you think of the West Coast," Sullivan said in an interview. "Amazon locating in Nashville is probably not something people predicted. It's an opportunity for us to champion that there's talent in all pockets of the United States, Nashville being one of them."

"It goes back to the fact that there are so many higher-ed institutions and partnership opportunities within Middle Tennessee and the state, and I'd stretch that from Memphis all the way to Johnson City with ETSU," Sullivan said. "It's the opportunity to invest in that long-term talent pipeline, and Tennessee offers that. It's not just about 'Day One' talent."

Amazon got things started a month ago by endowing a computer science professorship at Tennessee State University, an $800,000 commitment to the university.

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/05/10/amazon-wants-to-use-nashville-to-make-a-statement.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

 

[nashvylle]

^^^^^^^^^ awesome. 

[markhollin]

Amazon may be headed back to New York---this time in Manhattan.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/05/29/amazon-heading-back-to-new-york-maybe-but-in.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[markhollin]

Amazon's ripple effects for Nashville:

https://www.nashvillepost.com/business/nashville-post-magazine/article/21060144/amazons-ripple-effects

[markhollin]

Amazon wants to help Nashville build its tech-talent pipeline. To do so, the e-commerce giant is going back to the beginning: kindergarten.

The Seattle-based heavyweight is in talks with Metro Nashville Public Schools to bring its "Amazon Future Engineer" program to the city's school system this fall, according to Holly Sullivan, one of the executives spearheading Amazon's Nashville expansion. Sullivan's remarks came during the Nashville Rotary Club's weekly luncheon Monday.

The program — which Amazon launched last year in Seattle — is a "comprehensive childhood-to-career program to inspire, educate and train children and young adults from underserved and low-income communities to pursue careers in computer science," according to the company's website.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/06/11/amazon-in-talks-to-launch-tech-program-in-metro.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[titanhog]

12 minutes ago, markhollin said:

Amazon wants to help Nashville build its tech-talent pipeline. To do so, the e-commerce giant is going back to the beginning: kindergarten.

The Seattle-based heavyweight is in talks with Metro Nashville Public Schools to bring its "Amazon Future Engineer" program to the city's school system this fall, according to Holly Sullivan, one of the executives spearheading Amazon's Nashville expansion. Sullivan's remarks came during the Nashville Rotary Club's weekly luncheon Monday.

The program — which Amazon launched last year in Seattle — is a "comprehensive childhood-to-career program to inspire, educate and train children and young adults from underserved and low-income communities to pursue careers in computer science," according to the company's website.

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/06/11/amazon-in-talks-to-launch-tech-program-in-metro.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

Of course, your kindergartner will need to be chipped and receive an Amazon smiley-face tattoo on the back of their necks. 

[markhollin]

Here is the video Amazon is utilizing as pat of its recruitment for for the new offices in Nashville:
 

 

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/07/30/what-amazon-is-telling-potential-employees-in.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[Nash_12South]

Is it just me or are they implying that the Hyatt is actually the new Amazon buildings?

[Ingram]

37 minutes ago, Nash_12South said:

Is it just me or are they implying that the Hyatt is actually the new Amazon buildings?

 

No. They're just showing Nashville Yards where Amazon will be located. They have to show something. What else are they going to show? An empty hole? The Grand Hyatt is the only building in Nashville Yards that anyone can currently see.

Edited July 31, 2019 by Ingram

[bigeasy]

16 hours ago, Ingram said:

No. They're just showing Nashville Yards where Amazon will be located. They have to show something. What else are they going to show? An empty hole? The Grand Hyatt is the only building in Nashville Yards that anyone can currently see.

I disagree and don't know how you could argue they aren't. First, they show a sign that mentions jobs, multiple shots of a building under construction, and then a final rendering. Then they have a woman say this is going to be my home, as she points into the direction of the hotel, and they show a flyover of the building. I believe their intention is to sway the viewer into thinking it is their building, and push the message that they are closer than actuality. I think more people would apply for positions, express excitement,  and show interest if they thought the offices were already under construction.

 

The first thing I took away from the video was that the building was for their offices, and I even knew it wasn't. So I would think people unfamiliar would think the same as well.  A friend of mine even mentioned to me that he thought it was their office until I showed him proof it was the hotel.

[markhollin]

Dave Clark, Amazon's Senior V.P. for Worldwide Operations, is helping oversee Nashville's operation center getting underway.  He id an interview with NBJ, and here are some interesting nuggets:

What types of supporting businesses is Amazon counting on springing up in Nashville? Everything it takes to feed, clothe, transport, house … 5,000 high-end employees in a community. It’s going to further enrich the downtown life. When I look at Nashville, one of the great decisions the leadership of Nashville made was a commitment to making the downtown space an area where you can live, work and play — not just a place where you work. It was a big draw for us. 

Which departments or teams will be located in the Nashville office? We are working through that now. … We haven’t publicized what the big nuggets are going to be, but five or six teams across operations are already out hiring and starting to build in Nashville. 

What can Nashville expect from Amazon as a corporate citizen, and has the company done anything differently in introducing itself to the city? Mostly our approach is the same, which is where you have seen us engaged in local higher education, partnering with Metro schools … and continuing to provide things like robotics clubs and connections to STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics]. 

More behind the NBJ paywall here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/08/01/what-amazon-wants-nashville-to-know.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[markhollin]

Amazon will host its first-ever career day Sept. 17 in Nashville, Arlington, VA, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Seattle, with 30,000 full and part-time jobs to fill.  The Nashville event will be held at Cannery Ballroom, located at 1 Cannery Row.

https://amazoncareerdaynashville.splashthat.com/

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/09/09/amazon-to-host-nashville-career-day-event.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

[markhollin]

Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, was in Nashville today visiting Madison Middle School to announce Amazon's new partnership with Metro Nashville Public Schools to be called Amazon Future Engineer program. It will bring computer science courses and robotics teams to underserved communities at 21 elementary, middle, and high schools. 24 schools will also be given  an additional $10,000 each to expand computer science education. 

Amazon will also fund intro and AP computer science courses in three Nashville high schools and more than 45 high schools across Tennessee. The partnership is part of a $50 million investment Amazon is making in computer science and STEM in the U.S. in the next five years.

The robotics programs will be launched in Nashville’s Magnet STEAM schools, which focus on science, technology, math and engineering. The new partnership is expected to impact more than 1,000 local students and has already given students at Madison Middle School a day they won’t soon forget.

“I know every single one of you has an incredible mind, and with the right resources and tools you're going to put that mind to use and you are going to invent the future — and its going to be incredible,” Bezos said.

The schools participating in the Amazon Future Engineers program include:

Robotics Elementary Schools 

• Inglewood
• Rosebank
• Whitsitt 

Robotics Middle Schools 

• Antioch MS
• Bellevue
• Croft 
• DuPont Hadley
• Haynes 
• Head
• JT Moore
• Litton 
• Madison 
• McKissack 
• McMurray 
• Rose Park 
• Stratford 

  Robotics High Schools 

• StratfordWhites Creek 
• McGavock 
• Hunters Lane 
• Maplewood 

 

Computer Science High Schools 

Overton MLK Magnet Hillsboro 

More at NBJ here:

https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2019/09/11/jeff-bezos-visits-nashville-to-launch-new-program.html?iana=hpmvp_nsh_news_headline

 

And at The Tennessean here:

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2019/09/11/amazon-jeff-bezos-funds-technology-programs-in-nashville-public-schools-mnps/2197143001/

[nashvylle]

Yes!

[OnePointEast]

Win!!!!!!!

[Craiger]

There’s something wrong when our schools rely on donations from trillion dollar companies.