Amazon is opening a new fulfillment center at the Sakioka Farms Business Park in Oxnard, bringing more than 1,500 jobs with benefits when the facility opens next year.

“This couldn’t have come at a better time, given the pandemic and the economic downturn,” City Councilwoman Carmen Ramirez said in a city news release. “The opportunity to provide reliable jobs with great benefits to more than 1,500 people is a win for the entire community.”

The city has been reaching out to Amazon in many ways, including a bid to host Amazon’s second headquarters in 2017 at the Sakioka Farms site. City staff have been working with Amazon and the Sakioka family to move through the permitting process and get the fulfillment center open by the end of 2021.

“It’s been a complex process, but the dedicated work and collaboration between the city, the Sakioka family and Amazon have brought a great company to Oxnard that will pave the way for more business developments,” said Councilman Bryan MacDonald.

Construction is expected to begin this month. The business park is off of Rice Avenue and south of Highway 101 at the eastern edge of Oxnard.