Schodack residents say their town has needed businesses for years. Now, Amazon has its eyes locked on land for a warehouse just off Route 9 in Schodack.

It's a wooded area many thought would be a business hub.

“It’s been undeveloped here probably for the last 20 to 25 years that I’ve been living here,” said resident Bill Walsh.  

If Amazon does come, the online retail giant says it would bring an estimated 800 jobs to the area. However, some say it’s about quality, not quantity. One resident could be heard at Thursday morning's meeting saying, "They are described as full-time jobs; they have not indicated if they are all-year jobs.”  

Others think the employment opportunity could be a path to something bigger.

"It’s a place to start. Maybe for some of the kids in the area, Amazon is big enough that if they want to grow with the company, I’m sure they could. Everybody needs to start somewhere," added Walsh. 

The 800-job estimate also excludes the number of local contractors who could be hired to build the facility. Right now the company has not decided on if it will hire local unions.

"There’s 14 building trades and 22,000 people for construction that need work," Walsh said.

However, Schodack local Alice Senrick says there needs to be more to drive the economy in the town.

"It’s going to be temporary job, a summer job for construction. What’s that going to do? That’s not going to sustain us,” she said.

The feedback from Thursday's hearing will be passed on to the planning board. No construction can move forward until the project is fully approved and Amazon signs off on the plans. No word on what that timeline may look like.