[ad_1]
SAN FRANCISCO – Chicago offered $ 2 billion in tax breaks. North Carolina wrapped in Seattle with a pitch for Raleigh. A Philadelphia coffee chain printed the Amazon logo on the foam of its slats.
Now it can be for naught.
Whereas Amazon has not officially been so, the technology is nearing a deal on which it is expanding, depending on people briefed on the discussions.
After 20 finalist cities went to considerable lengths to lure Amazon closes their lives in the city of New York , two of the people said. The company is also expanding to the suburbs of Washington in Northern Virginia, one of them said.
When they were contacted on Tuesday, they were reluctant to answer a simple question: Was it a waste of time? In fact, many still held out hope that they have a shot.
"Said Aisha Glover, who helped lead the pitch from Newark, N.J." It's not over until it's over. "
Ten officials said they were still pursuing a decision, even though media outlets reported that their city was also ransomed. The officials said they wanted to avoid angering the nation's No. 2 private employer, after Walmart, which could still be decided in Someday.
The cities had also signed extensive nondisclosure agreements with Amazon. When Maureen Krauss, the chief economic development officer for the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, declined to comment, she noted, "I have 37 NDAs in my office."
Some officials have been talking, however, as they have been leaked out about Amazon's plans, and company executives did not seem pleased.
"Memo to the leaking genius info about Crystal City, VA as # HQ2 selection. You're not doing Crystal City, VA any favors, "Mike Grella, director of economic development and policy at Amazon, tweeted on Saturday. "And stop treating the NDA you signed up like a napkin."
An Amazon spokesman said Mr. Grella was not involved in the headquarters search. The spokesman also said that the company had more than 6,000 jobs in the region, and that it was not intended to make the list of finalists.
Officials from the last year of production slick videos and hosting Amazon officials for tours and dinners at some of their best restaurants. Many proposals included billions of dollars in tax incentives. New Jersey offered $ 7 billion in tax breaks if Amazon thing Newark. Atlanta's mayor said the city had offered more incentives to attract Amazon than it did for the Summer Olympics in 1996.
In a 218-page proposal, the Boston Pitch has recently closed a thoroughbred racetrack as a site, as well as mass-transit extensions and an "Amazon task force" of city officials to act as the company's contacts at City Hall.
The Columbus Dispatch obtained more than 1,300 pages of documents prepared for the Ohio city's pitch, which detailed "everything from the size of sewn lines to sites in the world". pay property taxes for 15 years.
Toronto did not offer tax incentives but told Amazon that it would save billions of dollars because of Canada's universal health care, low cost of labor and lower overall taxes. And Denver pitched in at $ 100 million in incentives.
New York's most recognized landmarks even turned orange for Amazon for a night.
In recent years, the AOL founder Steve Case has gone on to promote the "rise of the rest," the idea that the tech boom will eventually spill out into smaller cities in the middle of the country. But in focusing on two coastal megacities, Amazon may have called that narrative into question.
"This is actually a lot of opportunity for midsize cities," said Amy Liu, director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution.
Mark Zandi, Chief Economist for Moody's Analytics, said Amazon's choice of big tech companies is still more about talent pools than costs.
"The kind of people you're trying to be very diverse and globally oriented," Mr. Zandi said. "That's a very difficult thing to find in a place like Indianapolis."
Local hometowns. "Even if Amazon played us, Dallas can learn from the HQ2 search" was the headline of a Dallas Morning News editorial that said the city was better off with broad-based growth, which "is more stable than being a one-horse town."
The Boston Globe Columnist Scott Kirsner made the case that "being stiffened by Amazon is a good thing." He wrote that the company could have sucked up much of the city's talent and "is one of the most insular, secretive and uncharitable companies." ve ever encountered. "
Many cities also enlisted their top elected officials, business leaders and athletes to assist in their bids. Todd Carmichael, chief executive of Philadelphia-based The Colombe Coffee Roasters, aided his city's lobbying and said it was all worth it.
"We swung at the ball and we did not get out of it, but it was great to have that opportunity," he said in an interview. "And I'll never visit those cities ever again."
[ad_2]
Source link
