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July 5-July 11, 2018 jaxdailyrecord.com
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer ‘YOU NAME IT, Record & Observer IT’S HERE’
ForeignJACKSONVILLE aid could boost city Irma recovery
Amazon’s Westside warehouse for larger items can hold millions of them.
United Arab Emirates JACKSONVILLE wants to give $2.775 million to help “neediest families who were devastated” by storm.
Record & Observer
BY DAVID CAWTON STAFF WRITER
The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates is completing an agreement to award the city a $2.775 million grant to help areas hit hard by Hurricane Irma in September. Attorneys for both sides are working on the agreement in hopes of awarding the grant this year. According to a draft of the agreement, the city would oversee, manage and distribute the grant funds to government, business, and nonprofit agencies. The draft states that UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef Al Otaiba “was deeply moved by the tragedy affecting Florida’s communities,” referring to Hurricane Irma which hit Jacksonville on Sept. 12. It says the grant will be allocated to have “the greatest benefit to the neediest families who were devastated by Hurricane Irma.” Mayor Lenny Curry said June 20 the grant was not completed but that the city expects to make an official announcement soon. The UAE made similar grants to other areas devastated by natural disasters. The draft agreement shows that of the $2.775 million, the Duval County School Board would receive $425,000. Another $250,000 would go to Builders Care Construction Inc., which provides affordable or no-
JACKSONVILLE
Record & Observer Photos by Dede Smith
The Amazon fulfillment center at 13333 103rd St. in West Jacksonville opened Oct. 1 and handles larger consumer items.
SEE AID, PAGE 5
BY KAREN BRUNE MATHIS EDITOR
A
mazon.com Inc.’s Westside fulfillment center is a million square feet of warehouse
space. It has the capacity to hold millions of items — its general manager estimates 3 million — depending on size and seasonality. That’s a lot of Instant Pots, microwaves, child car seats, ladders, power washers, bed rails,
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printers, home air filters, high chairs, boxes of Rubbermaid containers, lawn chairs, dog food, kitty litter, garden tools, sports equipment and any other larger items that a customer might order through the e-commerce giant. And diapers, lots of diapers, such as for Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program. “It was interesting as I walked through the building yesterday,” said General Manager John Fogarty in June on the first day of summer at Amazon’s Cecil Com-
John Fogarty, general manager of the Amazon fulfillment center on the Westside, leads a team of about 1,000 full-time workers.
SEE AMAZON, PAGE 10
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