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 ...
muggy and rising crime in Des Moines....
Compared to where?
Reno?
I fly into NE Ohio once every 8 weeks. CLE always has the cheapest airfare but the car services to my destination are almost double what they are flying into PIT or CAK. Car services don’t want to go into Cleveland.
my bet is St Paul/Minneapolis
No city is perfect.
Says the man who’s never been to Reno...
Whole Foods exec offices are in Austin. It’s a great place, crawling with intelligent people. Pretty centrally located, great weather. Plenty of room on the outskirts to put a big facility. Very few big city problems.
Austin it is!
Best of all, Austin is already an annex of California!
Detroit. Lots of great housing available, established infrastructure, what’s not to like?
If as big an employer as Amazon came to DesMoines, you would see a change in travel to and from the city. The weather would be a FAR bigger impediment to its selection.
People are championing their favorite places it seems, or looking at overall appeal as a corporate relocation destination, but there are I think reasons unique to Amazon to want to broaden their national reach within the US that would have them wanting to be on the east coast. I think their overly aggressive corporate political culture will prevent them from even considering a metropolitan area in a truly “red” state, could be wrong but think it’s a reasonable assumption. So, Raleigh, love ya, best of luck but between the bathroom bill and voting Trump in 2016 I think any metro in my native NC is out as is any Trump state. That wipes out the entire southeast except for... Virginia.
Regarding other east coast metros, that leaves mid-Atlantic on up into New England. I see the cost of Boston putting them off, NYC fuhgettaboudit, Philly, nah, DC way too expensive unless they’re way back into the outer reaches of commuter hell in West Virginia which could be an outlier, I suppose. The only east coast metro outside of the southeast that I see fitting the bill gives me a sinking feeling because a corporate do-gooder SJW mindset would love to make it bloom again, that would be Baltimore.
But, I honestly think it’s the Norfolk-Virginia Beach region of Tidewater Virginia. Port city, metro population 1.7 million, nice airport although connections could be better but that would change with the advent of a large contingent of new business flyers I’m sure. It’s a red metro in a purple state turning blue, so if they want to cement a political influence that would represent quite a beachhead. Speaking of beachhead, the recreational opportunities and overall geographical attractiveness would be excellent, with the MSA comprising parts of the Outer Banks in North Carolina, Virginia Beach itself, lots of lifestyle appeal.
I just don’t see Amazon going to all that time and effort for a 2nd HQ just to go a couple hundred miles, they’re going to get in the thick of the opposite end of the country. Pro-business state but not red. Some semblance of a tech presence established although not necessarily a tech hub per se. I think they relate to a port city for more than just business reasons, too. Lifestyle and livability would be a major concern.
So, the Hampton Roads MSA comprising Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Newport News, assorted other smaller cities as well as the far northeast corner of NC is in pretty good shape on all of those points, in my opinion.
50,000 jobs would require a lot bigger population than Des Moines or Reno. Even a two million population area would be stretching it.
Amazon could choose a red state hoping to tip it blue, so NC or OH might be good bets.
There was a big Amazon project cancelled in the Charlotte metro over the bathroom bill brouhaha and now our dauntless leaders have capitulated but I still have a hard time seeing Bezos and Amazon getting past their biases enough to go into a Trump state.
Hey, there’s another reason!
At least, it would be if it were true, which it isn’t.
I see Detroit as a major contender for the Amazon HQ2. A lot of heavy hitters (Dan Gilbert, Tom Gores, Ford, GM, Roger Penske) are putting together a Super Bowl like bid. Also, Windsor Canada is now involved, making it an international bid on the busiest crossing between USA-Canada. Plus, Detroit does have a lot of land available (which is a requirement for the campus-like need) and finally Detroit’s downtown is currently booming and gentrifying. It’s also the only city with 4 sports franchises located in the core of the city (blocks apart), and soon to add a 5th (MLS), making it an attractive place to live for the millenial tech crowd that Amazon will need to hire.
Meredith Corporation, Principal Financial Group, EMC Insurance, Startly Technologies, the Ruan family of companies, Hy-Vee Groceries, Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield and American Enterprise Group.
Not sure we have the needed population base.
But we are geographically a perfect e commerce location
OK, one small tech company - Startly.
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