Paul Misener, Amazon.com’s vice president for Global Public Policy, came to Seawell’s on Rosewood Drive to speak to more than 200 at the Columbia Rotary Monday lunch meeting, January 23. Misener was introduced by Richard Davis, a South Carolina lobbyist for the past 25 years, who helped Misener and Amazon work through the legislature and the governor’s office.

Davis said Misener was a 1985 engineering graduate at Princeton University. He also earned a law degree at George Mason University, where he was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001. Misener is responsible for formulating and representing Amazon.com’s public policy positions worldwide. He also manages the policy specialists in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Misener began his speech by saluting Davis for his hard work in putting Seattle-based Amazon.com on the ground in South Carolina. Misener then identified S.C. Senator Nikki Setzler (D-Lexington) for his help in the effort to locate Amazon.com in Lexington County. Misener called the early disappointments as stunning defeats and the final outcome as a stunning success.

Real estate executive Rusty DePass and S. C. Senator Nikki Setzler The agreement between Amazon.com and the state was to invest at least $125 million in South Carolina and hire 2,000 people by the end of 2013. So far, Amazon.com has built a one million square foot building in Lexington County at Cayce’s Saxe Gotha Industrial Park, where they have already hired 550 people full-time. Over the holidays the Cayce building had 1,200 seasonal workers. After officials announced in December 2010 the online retailer planned to open a fulfillment center in Cayce, Amazon.com received about 9,000 job applications.

The challenges in locating Amazon.com in South Carolina was little different from the problems found in locating in Texas, California, Tennessee, and Indiana. In every case one of the sticking points was sales tax. The South Carolina deal allowed for no sales tax to be collected by Amazon.com from South Carolinians who bought from Amazon.com. But at the end of the year when annual individual taxes are figured in, the individual taxpayer is supposed to pay the uncollected sales tax.

Paul Misener, Amazon.com’s vice president for Global Public Policy According to the Char les ton Post and Courier, estimates of taxes unpaid by South Carolina online consumers come to $110 million. The way the rules work in South Carolina, retailers with websites as well as retail stores in the state— Barnes & Noble bookstores,— say must collect sales tax from South Carolina shoppers. In Amazon.com’s case, there is no retail store in the state, so Amazon.com doesn’t collect sales taxes from South Carolinians. Still, in- state buyers at Amazon.com must pay their uncollected sales taxes when they file at the end of the year. Many do not.

Richard Davis, South Carolina lobbyist Like in the other states listed, South Carolina can expect a larger Amazon.com presence soon after the first. Misener announced during his speech to the Rotarians that Amazon.com was putting in a smaller facility, a fulfillment center, in Spartanburg. The Spartanburg location would start with a $50 million investment, building a one million square foot facility and creating 390 new jobs. With both locations, Lexington and Spartanburg, Misener said, Amazon.com was well on its way to generating more than 2,000 jobs in South Carolina, as earlier agreed.

The major difference between Amazon.com’s Cayce facility and the one is Spartanburg will be in the items shipped. The Cayce center distributes smaller items—iPods, for instance—and the Spartanburg fulfillment center will ship out larger items like kayaks and lawn mowers.