Sedalia Amazon delivery facility holds ribbon-cutting after months of operation

SEDALIA, Mo. (KCTV) - Sedalia’s new Amazon delivery facility held its ribbon-cutting Thursday, even though it has been operating since December.

The 63,000-square-foot facility has already delivered half a million packages across a 70-mile radius. Governor Mike Kehoe joined local leaders to officially cut the ribbon on the building.

Economic impact beyond deliveries

The facility is the size of one football field. Inside, 550 feet of conveyor belts move more than 4,000 packages every week. The delivery center serves a 70-mile radius with nearly 200 drivers and 150 jobs inside the facility itself.

Kehoe said the investment benefits not just consumers but Missouri’s small businesses.

“Missouri is sixth in the United States of small business owners that actually work through Amazon to get their product out to the market,” Kehoe said. “So it’s a two-way street. They’re helping customers get goods delivered to their home, but they’re also helping Missouri small businesses get their product to others’ homes.”

Jason Appleton, a Sedalia native, moved back home to open the facility. He has worked in other towns for the company in the last decade and has watched his hometown transform as new opportunities come to Sedalia.

“It used to be this side of the city stopped at Walmart and that was it, and then there was the theater on the other side of the street, and some of the industrial park was here, but other than that there wasn’t really anything else,” Appleton said.

Amazon adds to a growing list of businesses opening in Sedalia. Kehoe also pointed to the Nucor Steel facility, which opened in 2020 and created 400 jobs. That facility sits next to the Amazon one, now adding 300 more.