Congratulations Denver, you’ve made the cut from 238 to 20 for consideration of Amazon’s second headquarters!
The company released their top picks, in alphabetical order as opposed to who they like best, and the finalists are:
• Atlanta, GA
• Austin, TX
• Boston, MA
• Chicago, IL
• Columbus, OH
• Dallas, TX
• Denver, CO
• Indianapolis, IN
• Los Angeles, CA
• Miami, FL
• Montgomery County, MD
• Nashville, TN
• Newark, NJ
• New York City, NY
• Northern Virginia, VA
• Philadelphia, PA
• Pittsburgh, PA
• Raleigh, NC
• Toronto, ON
• Washington D.C.
Of course Newark, New Jersey, made the cut. They offered truck loads of obscene tax breaks that even made us blush.
Toronto, Ontario, is the only North American city outside the U.S. in the running. The Denver Post points out that software programmers there earn 34 to 38 percent less than those in Boston or New York, which also made the list.
Amazon released an interesting statement that said the bidding process allowed them to learn about many new communities across North America, which they will consider as “locations,” plural, for future infrastructure investment and job creation.
This could mean the second headquarters would be a region with multiple sites, such as Washington, D.C., Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland — also known as the Capitol Beltway.
It’s a smart play for multiple tax cuts, but seriously, a traffic nightmare for employees.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos already knows this, because he owns the Washington Post. The same would apply to Newark, New York and Philadelphia area.
Or it could mean that Amazon plans to build more warehouses, service centers or software development firms in the future and will consider these locations.
We are expected to find out later this year who will get the $5 billion facility and 50,000 jobs.