Amazon announces expansion into Medford

Retail giant Amazon will continue its investment in the Boston area by opening a new office space in Medford.

The company announced plans to move into a 50,000-square-foot facility near Wellington Station on the Orange Line, which is roughly two miles east of Tufts campus, this spring.

An Amazon spokespersontold the Daily that this office space is part of the company's increased investment in the greater Boston area.

“Amazon has created more than 1,800 tech jobs in Boston, from speech scientists helping make Alexa smarter every day to robotics engineers building the latest technology for our customer fulfillment network," the spokesperson wrote in a statement emailed to the Daily. "We are excited to be bringing more jobs to the Boston area and across Massachusetts.”

According to the spokesperson, the facility will hold 200 employees, including product managers, engineers and business analysts, all of whom will support Amazon’s Alexa.

Medford Mayor Stephanie Burke says she is excited about the contribution Amazon can bring to the local community.

“Amazon will be bringing 200 additional jobs to our community. This allows recent graduates, vocational students, and those seeking a career close to home additional opportunities,” Burke told the Daily in a statement.

However, all 200 staffers in the new office will transfer from the space the company rents in Back Bay, the transition will create no new jobs when the Medford office opens this spring. Still, Burke says Amazon’s presence in the Medford community is expected to add economic benefits. With 200 employees, Amazon will be one of Medford's largest private employers.

“[Amazon] will also contribute to the tax base in our community, specifically personal property taxes," Burke said. "Additionally, our businesses and restaurants in the area will prosper because of the additional people that will be utilizing them."

Tufts Career Center Executive Director Gregory Victory believes Amazon's new office will offer positives for the Tufts community as well.

"It is certainly valuable to have companies like Amazon, in Tufts backyard, and the greater Boston area certainly provides that access," Victory told the Daily in an email. "Amazon continues to be a major employer of Tufts graduates and we look forward to establishing a relationship with this specific team."

Victory also noted that the new space is in its early stages, so assessing what full-time or internship opportunities might exist for students is difficult at this stage.

However, Victory is optimistic about the benefit of Amazon's close proximity to students and the university. Victory explained that the new office could offer nontraditional means of taking advantage of the opportunities Amazon offers, including fostering research connections.

In the last 10 years, Boston has become an increasingly attractive region for tech companies. Amazon has made clear its interest in growing more within the Boston area and capitalizing on the region's skilled workforce. Both Boston and Somerville were contenders for Amazon’s HQ2 second headquarters contest, though they ultimately lost to northern Virginia.

Amazon hasn’t been the only large corporation attracted to expanding into communities just outside of the Boston area. Sportswear manufacturing company Puma will also be opening its North American headquarters less than a mile away from Amazon’s new space, according to a Boston Globe article.