Finalists for the company’s second home base break out bicycles to win over the internet giant
Don’t get too fancy. Head to edgier, trendier neighborhoods. And definitely stay on time.
These are a few of the tricks cities are deploying in their all-out effort to woo Amazon.com Inc.’s new headquarters, a move the online retailer says could bring nearly 50,000 jobs and more than $5 billion in investment over nearly two decades. Amazon executives have quietly visited more than half of the cities on its list of 20 finalists, which are vying to host what it calls HQ2, according to people familiar with the matter. The visits, which started in recent weeks, have included Dallas, Chicago, Indianapolis and the metropolitan Washington, D.C., area.
Amazon hasn’t provided much guidance on what it expects from the site visits. It has asked for breakout sessions on education and talent, plus visits to the sites it is considering, all within a strict time frame of two days, max. The rest is up to local officials.
The Wall Street Journal
By Laura Stevens, Shibani Mahtani and Shayndi Raice
April 2, 2018