Officials mum on Amazon warehouse talks

RIVERTON (WNE) — For a good portion of 2024, rumors have circulated about a potential deal with online giant Amazon to bring a warehouse to Riverton. When asked about the possibility, however, economic development leaders in the region uniformly respond “No comment.”

But some of those leaders admitted one thing: They are under non disclosure agreements on the talks.

“I’m under an NDA, so I’m not really allowed to say one way or another,” commented IDEA Inc. Executive Director Kevin Kershisnik. “But there had been some discussions in the past … the group I was working with, they were talking about doing something with the city.”

“We have an NDA through the [Wyoming] Attorney General’s Office, so we can’t talk about anything,” added Wyoming Business Council West Central Regional Director Patrick Edwards. One thing that’s as solid as brick and mortar is Amazon’s interest in Wyoming.

The company opened its first Wyoming delivery warehouse in Gillette in October, where employees stage packages coming via truck, then local delivery “Flex” drivers load them into cars for final deliveries.

A similar Casper facility opened its doors on October 24.

The Gillette facility employs about 30 people, with another 30 Flex drivers, and as the Gillette News Record reported, during peak seasons like Christmas, the facility could up those numbers to 50 and 80, respectively.

Riverton City Administrator Kyle Butterfield said he’s not under an NDA over Amazon.

“I don’t have an NDA with Amazon, but I don’t have anything to disclose, unfortunately,” he said. “I probably can’t make any comment on it. I’ve heard some rumors.”

When asked whether there had been communication with the city on any development plans, Butterfield added, “I can’t comment on it.”

This story was published on December 4, 2024.