On Wednesday, the center held a ribbon cutting with Minot Area Chamber EDC as its employees worked in the background to organize incoming boxes for another day’s distribution. The center also was counting on 60 contract drivers to meet the day’s delivery demands.

The center currently has about 40 employees, said Jason Vangalis, head of Central U.S. Expansion and Economic Development Policy in Madison, Wisconsin, who was in Minot Wednesday.

Associates have flexible schedules that enable them to choose the hours that work best for them. The Minot center’s operating hours are 6:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., with options for employees to come in earlier to begin preparing incoming packages for distribution, Vangalis said.

The center’s incoming volume comes from Amazon’s fulfillment center in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota.

Employees at the Amazon distribution center in Minot work to sort incoming packages into routes for delivery to final destinations in the Minot area Wednesday.

Contract delivery drivers are part of Amazon Flex. Vangalis explained drivers who sign up through the program can check a phone application for opportunities to make deliveries that fit their schedules. They can choose delivery routes ranging from three hours to four and a half hours and can choose a route within Minot or outside Minot, typically within 50 miles of the center.

Site lead Anthony Fridgen said about 2,000 incoming packages were expected Wednesday at the Minot facility. The center processes about 10,000 packages a week on average, he said.

Vangalis said Amazon has invested more than $600 million across North Dakota in the past 15 years.

“We employ over a thousand people, both full and part time, throughout the state. It’s facilities like this that help our over 400 small and medium sized businesses that use Amazon to sell their product across the state, across the U.S. and across the globe get their products to their customers faster,” he said. “At Amazon, we’re all about customer obsession, but we’re also about being great community partners and really living the leadership principles that we have.”

On Wednesday, the center had pet supply items that were headed to Souris Valley Animal Shelter through Amazon’s community donation program. Fridgen said employees also volunteer in their communities.

Jill Schramm/MDN Site lead Anthony Fridgen, left, and Jason Vangalis with Amazon’s corporate office explain the labeling on an Amazon package that indicates its distribution route during a Minot Area Chamber EDC and media tour Wednesday.

Fridgen said he has been with Amazon for about three and half years, starting at the Fargo fulfillment center. Amazon also recently opened a distribution center in the Dickinson area.

“Speaking just from my own experience, Amazon has provided so many fantastic opportunities for me and my team,” Fridgen said. “We very much strive for hiring and developing the best and really allowing someone, when they come in as an Amazonian, to make the most out of their time, whatever they would choose to do.”

Minot Mayor Tom Ross called the opening of the distribution center a victory for Minot and the region.

“I’m looking forward to building a growing relationship between Amazon and the city of Minot,” he said.

Ryan Ackerman, chair of MACEDC’s board of directors, said the organization appreciates Amazon’s investment in the community and in rural solutions and logistics.

“It’s really fantastic to see an operation like this – a world-class operation that focuses clearly on efficiency, focuses clearly on safety. But the one that drives it home for me is the focus on rural communities,” Ackerman said.