New Buffalo Rock and Amazon fulfillment center being built near County Line Road
Limestone County’s growing list of industries near Madison will expand when a Buffalo Rock beverage distribution facility opens this summer and an Amazon fulfillment center begins operations next year, both in Huntsville-annexed portions of the county north of Interstate 565.
Mike Hamilton, regional vice president of Buffalo Rock’s north region, said the 200,000-square-foot facility between Greenbrier and County Line roads, near Mazda Toyota Manufacturing, will replace a smaller facility on Old Madison Pike in Huntsville. Birmingham-based Buffalo Rock bottles and distributes Pepsi products.
The new, $32 million facility will be much larger than the previous one.
“With our portfolio growing like it is, this is going to help us serve our customers and it’s going to create a much better work environment for our employee partners and their experience at work,” Hamilton said.
The 108 employees from the old facility will transfer to the new Limestone County building, but Hamilton said the company plans to hire 22 more to have a total of 130 employees.
“We’re working on recruitment and hiring for that now,” he said.
At the new site, Hamilton said, there will be a sales center, an administration department and space for employees to load their product for delivery to their service area.
Hamilton said he expects the first day of operation at the new location to be June 13. According to Hamilton, the construction is on schedule and is being done around the clock.
Construction is also in progress on an Amazon fulfillment center, near County Line Road and close to the new Buffalo Rock facility. It will be the second Amazon fulfillment center in Huntsville.
The new fulfillment center is approximately 2 miles from the first center, according to Shemeeka Johnson, manager of public relations for Amazon.
The new 1 million-square-foot center is a non-sortable facility, Johnson said, and “is designed to receive, store and package heavy or bulky items like home appliances.”
Johnson said the new center “will utilize innovative technologies and energy-efficient, zero-emission power industrialized truck equipment.”
Amazon plans to hire 250 full-time employees, Johnson said, and “hiring typically begins about 60 days prior to the site launching.” She said it should be fully staffed about two months after opening.
“Although we don’t have an update regarding a specific opening date for this facility, we anticipate a fall 2023 launch,” Johnson said.
