Kannapolis leaders approve grant to bring Amazon distribution center, 600 jobs

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KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — Kannapolis leaders approved a grant Monday night that will bring a new Amazon distribution center, and hundreds of new jobs, to the area.

City Council approved the more than half-million-dollar grant for the center off N.C. 73 and Kannapolis Parkway.

[LINK: Amazon jobs in Charlotte]

The $85 million facility is expected to bring more than 600 jobs to Cabarrus County and is set to open in 2019.

Tori Rodriguez went on Tuesday to the NCWorks Career Center in Kannapolis to look for work. She moved to the city two months ago from Atlanta and has had trouble finding work.

"At this point, I just need a job. If I'm going to clean toilets, that's what I'm going to do," Rodriguez said.

Channel 9 told Rodriguez that Amazon is potentially building a distribution center that would bring hundreds of jobs.

"That's awesome," Rodriguez said. "That's the best news I've heard all day. I kind of have some hope now."

But not everyone is thrilled. Some neighbors, like Kathy Lanier, are concerned about the traffic and noise Amazon would bring.

"How would you like to raise a family across the street from that?" Lanier questioned.

Amazon has grown in the Charlotte region over the past three years.

The first distribution center in North Carolina was built in Concord in 2014. The executive director of the Centralina Workforce Development Board said they helped 800 people land jobs at the facility.

In 2016, another distribution center opened near Charlotte-Douglas International Airport.

Amazon also expanded its delivery service, Prime Now, in the region.

Cabarrus County commissioners still need to approve its grant incentives on Aug. 21 before everything is finalized.

Amazon is set to come to Kannapolis in 2019.

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