Posted on 09/19/2017 7:14:46 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The competition to host HQ2, as Amazon’s planned second headquarters is called, has captivated the nation. The lucky city can expect an economic bonanza: 50,000 jobs, plus the tech ecosystem that the online retail giant’s presence will inevitably attract.
But the winner doesn’t have to be a big metropolis. On the contrary, Amazon has the power to create an entirely new American technology hub.
In a recent piece, Bloomberg View columnist Conor Sen discusses some of the factors that will (or should) influence Amazon’s decision. These include an educated workforce, an airport, tax incentives, and — perhaps most importantly — a tolerant local culture. But Sen makes one assumption that I’m not sure holds true: that the winner of HQ2 is going to have to be a large city.
“Amazon says it’s considering metro areas of a million or more, but realistically to provide 50,000 employees a metro area is going to need to be significantly larger than that … Is Amazon, a company that thinks of growth in terms of decades, going to locate a headquarters in a place where it might have to hire over 4 percent of the metro area’s labor force[?]”
HQ2 would not do all of its hiring locally, any more than Amazon’s current headquarters hires exclusively from Seattle. Its mere presence would increase any city’s educated workforce — indeed, boosting the tax base is one reason cities want it in the first place. The number of tech workers in the area would also rise when a bunch of other tech companies moved into town to be close to Amazon. This would, in turn, increase the skilled labor pool that Amazon could draw on — an effect economists call “thick markets.”(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at postandcourier.com ...
I do know that Raleigh has thrown its hat into the ring.
Birmingham?! I thought they had a crime problem. Maybe Hoover, Al.
Des Moines probably helps Zuck if he runs in 2020.
When I heard Chicago was being considered I thought “Amazon could not be that stupid” who in their right mind would come to Tax Central? The entire state is under the control of the most powerful Democrat machine in the country which has f..d it up beyond repair.
Suck is Facebook. Bezos is Amazon.
it’s going to Austin, mark my words
Austin or DC+WV
Milwaukee would be way better than Chicago.
Must be sleep time!
Milwaukee is a craphole, filthy and has just as bad of crime as Chicago with the exception of the murder rate.
Milwaukee SUCKS.
Reno, Nevada.
==== I would think that Des Moines ====
I’ll answer that with a link to the map showing non-stop destinations from Des Moines.
http://www.dsmairport.com/flight-and-travel/non-stop-destinations-map/default.aspx
Salt Lake City is as close as you can get to Seattle in one hop. Birmingham is even worse - Denver.
I’d look at cities that offer Tech and a hub airport. They’ve also indicated they want a city with a downtown and with transit, and affordable housing. Austin, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Denver come to mind. Raleigh is iffy on the urban markers but might make the list (barely enough airport to qualify), as might Atlanta. Boston would be a longshot but might also make the list. Central Florida would be a very long shot.
Anyplace else would probably have to throw in NFL Stadium sized money.
Just a great, all-around city.
Des Moines has a nice downtown with second-story skywalks for the Winter and a mall within. Real estate is relatively cheap, there are several good universities nearby and a bus system. High literacy, rural work ethic, expandable airport and decent schools.
If the government would move out of DC to the Hinterland (Where they actually belong) there would be plenty of empty office space, warehouses, housing etc etc in the Md & VA suburbs (heard they are supposed to put a 3 way joint venture bid-— THAT should be interesting - they can’t run a subway/bus transit system jointly).
Give the leeches a chance to get out of town and Amazon can move in and take over.
Also the highway infrastructure is great...just check it out in Jul/Aug when the govt employees leave.
OR
Kick the illegals and UN out of NY and you have another possibility.
“Reno, Nevada.”
My guess too.
Something east. Columbus Ohio. 500 miles within half the US population base and testing grounds for all of retail America.
The senior execs can ride corporate jets. But the worker bees aren’t going to go for having to change planes at a hub airport. Some recruits would probably enjoy living there. But a lot aren’t going to want to live ‘in the middle of nowhere’. And certainly don’t try to recruit from anywhere south of there when the temperature is 10 or 20 degrees below freezing. And the average high in July is only about 12 degrees cooler than Austin. I expect it is wonderful in the Spring and Fall. But it is smaller than Plano, Texas, or Baton Rouge, LA.
And what high tech companies have major operations there?
Same problem as some of the other suggestions. Weak air service. Cincy would have a better shot. But Cleveland has Case (and not much else).
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