Amazon receives 238 proposals for second headquarters
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) received 238 proposals from cities and regions in North America interested in becoming home to its second headquarters, the company announced on its website Monday.
Amazon said it will invest over $5 billion in construction for the second headquarters, which could mean as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. The ongoing operation of Amazon’s second headquarters, meanwhile, is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment.
As FOX Business has reported, cities across the U.S. are going to great lengths in hopes of winning the “HQ2” bid. Kansas City Mayor Sylvester James gave 1,000 Amazon products five-star reviews, while the city of Stonecrest, Georgia offered to change its name to Amazon and make CEO Jeff Bezos mayor if selected.
Other cities, however, have taken a more relaxed approach. Steve Adler, the mayor of Austin, Texas, said “I’m not convinced that, ultimately, Amazon decides what’s the best match for them based on the kinds of things that some other cities are doing,” according to the Austin American-Statesman. Moody’s Analytics ranked Austin as the front runner to become Amazon’s second headquarters.
Amazon did not list which cities or metro areas applied, but according to the Associated Press, it said the proposals came from 43 U.S. states, as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, three Mexican states and six Canadian provinces.
Amazon told FOX Business that with over 200 submissions it will take "some time" to evaluate each proposal, and that they don’t have a set timeline for the next update.
