The high-stakes battle surrounding which of the 20 metropolitan areas chosen by Amazon will pick for its second headquarters was turned upside down over the weekend. Citing unnamed sources "close to the process," the Washington Post reported that Amazon was in "advanced talks" about opening the Crystal City headquarters in the state of Virginia, just in the morning. Outside the national capital.

According to the Post, "the discussions were more detailed than the ones the company had regarding other sites in northern Virginia and in other cities across the country, adding that the county site of Arlington is at the forefront of the second giant of the online retail giant North American headquarters and its 50,000 jobs. "La Poste added that one of the leading promoters JBG Smith, had removed some of its properties from the rental market and local officials had discussed the possibility of making a public announcement on the Amazon site, selected later this month. this.

The headquarters of Amazon is in Seattle. USA TODAY solicited the opinion of the company.

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Crystal City officials probably should not plan a victory parade yet. For starters, Amazon could have similar discussions with other finalists.

In addition, shortly after the publication of the Post report, Mike Grella, director of public policy for economic development at Amazon, tweeted: "Memo to Genius revealing information about Crystal City, Virginia, as a selection # HQ2. You do not do favors in Crystal City, VA. And stop processing the NDA that you have signed as a used napkin.

Grella has already responded to another Post article by tweet, an article in which the publication speculated on HQ2's search based on the flight of CEO Jeff Bezos' business jet: says nothing about # HQ2 cities. The research team has earned its trust and the greatest use of its time is not looking for vacant buildings or land, it has a business to manage – # Amazon. "

Of course, Grella did not specify that this report was false, and USA TODAY also considered the BC region, and northern Virginia, in particular, as one of the most likely to rank among the first. It's also a favorite on online gambling sites.

The area is convenient for business and not only close to Washington DC, but also to Dulles International Airport, a major hub. There is also a high concentration of Internet connectivity in the region. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post.

The winning region will almost certainly reap huge economic benefits. Amazon plans to invest more than $ 5 billion and the 50,000 new jobs in the company are expected to earn an average salary above $ 100,000. According to the calculations of Enrico Moretti, professor of economics at the University of California at Berkeley, 250,000 indirect jobs will also be created.

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