There is a new business opening on Oʻahu that is getting a lot of attention. It's taking up more than half a million square feet— and providing hundreds of jobs.
The packages are set to roll on Aug. 6, when the Sand Island Amazon delivery station has its soft launch.
Senior station manager Stephanie Kalili said a station of this size typically sends out more than 300,000 packages per week.
For Kalili, the job is a homecoming. The Nānākuli High and Intermediate School graduate went to the continent for a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Indianapolis and a master's in education at Oakland University.
Her Amazon career has included managerial roles in Wisconsin, Illinois and Phoenix.
What will those 300,000 weekly packages consist of? In many cases, goods from local small to medium-sized businesses.
Kalili said Amazon had partnered with about 1,500 local businesses to deliver their packages. To move it all, the $200 million facility — built by Swinerton — features Amazon's latest packing technologies and a lot of jobs. The company has opened 500 positions in the delivery station, plus another 400 for drivers.
Amazon has partnered with Hawaiian Airlines, which will operate a fleet of 10 Airbus A330-300 cargo planes, for packages moving in and out of the islands.
There may be more to come, too. Though Amazon officials didn’t share specifics, the company owns another 49 acres in Kapolei.
