Cities Attempt to “Woo” Amazon
Jeff Bezos has found himself at the center of attention from several North American city suitors. With the next Amazon Headquarters looking for city space, several places around the United States and Canada have been bidding for the attention of the shopping powerhouse in unique (sometimes desperate) ways. The massive development deal has caused cities to pull out all the stops for founder Bezos, and rightfully so. After completion in roughly ten years, the second headquarters would be up to 8 million square feet which could potentially employ up to 50,000 people and provide tax breaks, grants, and $5 billion in construction costs. With all proposals due today, October 19th, Bezos will hand out a symbolic rose to one lucky city.
In downtown Seattle, peculiar orbs are at the original Amazon campus. Source: Seattle Times.
The attempts to swoon Bezos have come in all shapes and sizes. New York City lit up its skyline orange in honor of Amazon’s trademark color, while Washington D.C. has offered up it’s top four trendy neighborhoods perfect for the future Amazon employees to inhabit. Tucson, Arizona sent the Seattle office a towering cactus by truck. It was denied but donated to the Arizona Desert Museum. The tiny town of Stonecrest, Georgia took the stage five clinger route and offered to rename their city “Amazon” if they were chosen. Giant Amazon dash buttons and boxes were scattered around Birmingham, Alabama and allowed residents to generate tweets and messages (i.e. “Amazon, we got a 100% match on Bumble. Wanna go on a date?”). Pittsburgh is offering free sandwiches from Primanti for anyone who ends up working at the new plant while Calgary made their mark in Seattle with suggestive banners and graffiti.
Calgary’s graffiti cuts right to the point. Source: The Verge.
The lengths some cities have gone to show how impacting a new Amazon headquarters will be. Though some are weary it’ll bring more of a headache than it’ll be worth, the possibilities and opportunities the HQ will bring has been enticing cities from coast to coast. Notably, Chicago did not participate in any gimmicky tactics. Rather, Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and the city went a more traditional route with a straight forward bid. “Our bid makes a powerful business case, linking our advantages in innovation, commerce and (research and development) with Amazon’s aspirations for growth and talent recruitment.” With the deadline here Amazon has not given any indication when a city will be chosen. Do you think Amazon should choose Chicago?
Giant familiar Amazon boxes have popped up in Birmingham. Source: Alabama News Center.
Banner Image Source: Time.
Home Image Source: Fortune.
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