(BLOG) John's Journal: Growing Jobs with Amazon and the Port of Baltimore

Written and submitted by Del. John Olszewski Jr.

It is official: we have more than 1,000 full-time jobs with great wages and benefits coming to the Dundalk area.  Amazon announced last week that they are planning to open a new, 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center at the site of the former General Motors plant.  

These are jobs that offer company stock options, a 401(k) retirement program, and a program that will even pre-pay the cost of tuition for employees that desire to go back to school.  Salaries for the company are, on average, 30 percent higher than traditional retail positions.  I am pleased to count myself among the elected officials that have and will continue to support Amazon coming to Maryland.  In addition to voicing my support for the move, I have supported incentive and job-training programs that helped create an environment to encourage and help to facilitate these types of decisions.  For example, I was the primary sponsor of legislation that kept Maryland’s Job Creation Tax Credit on the books, and the lead co-sponsor of Maryland Employment Advancement Right Now in the last legislative session, a bill that will invest $4.5 million toward employee training directed by the private sector.  

Amazon’s decision to come to southeast Baltimore is a move that expands on our already-effective strategy of using the Port of Baltimore as a base to grow employment.  I have been a strong proponent of the Public Private Partnership legislation that helped create over an additional 1,000 jobs at the Dundalk Marine Terminal Seagirt location. This was accomplished by the state partnering with Ports America to create a new, 50-foot berth at the site.  In a similar fashion, Amazon’s move to the area makes good sense, considering the Port, rail, and highway access its new location will afford it. 

In addition to the expected growth through the Amazon deal, I continue to push for even more job opportunities at Sparrows Point.  There are currently hundreds of people working in the shipping yard constructing new tunnels for the Virginia Hampton Roads project, and there can be yet again thousands more jobs with a new port facility at Coke Point.  If the Port advances their plans for Coke Point, we will realize the clean-up on a considerably contaminated site, the creation of yet another 1,000 family-sustaining jobs, and millions of dollars of investment via community benefits.    

The new berth at Seagirt and the planned move by Amazon will have positive impacts beyond the immediately benefit of putting people into good jobs.  People working in these steady jobs with good wages will also help our local economy, spending money with local businesses and encouraging new investment as well.   A robust business community will, in turn, strengthen housing prices and encourage more business and job growth.  The potential jobs associated with the Sparrows Point site would lead to even more investment and growth in the area.  

I am pleased to see job opportunities in southeast Baltimore headed in a positive direction and will continue to do all that I can to encourage local growth in this sector.