5 Things You Should Know About Denver’s Amazon HQ2 Bid

DENVER, CO -- Seattle-bassed Amazon.com announced in September that they were seeking a city in North America to build HQ2 -- a second headquarter campus for the multi-billion dollar company. This has led to a scramble for US (and Canadian) cities to prepare proposals to lure the merchandise giant.

Cities around the country are coming up with gimmicks to entice the company. Some are using celebrity pitchmen such as Michael Jordan for Charlotte, NC or St. Louis sportscaster Joe Buck. The state of Georgia offered to name a new city “Amazon.” The Mayor of Kansas City said he bought 1,000 items online on amazon and rated them all “5 Stars.” Some are even speculating that the "contest" could be a marketing ploy.

The deadline for cities to submit a proposal is Oct. 19.

Here are five things you should know about Amazon’s HQ2

1. Amazon plans to invest $5 billion to build the HQ2 campus, starting in 2019.
2. Whichever city town gets the Amazon gig will benefit not only from the campus itself, but get an economic boost, the company predicted.

• Amazon’s second headquarters will employ 50,000 employees (mostly in software development) who earn an average of $100,000 yearly.

"In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community," the company said.

3. What Amazon is looking for:

• A metropolitan area with more than one million people
• A “stable and business-friendly” environment
• Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent
• Communities that “think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options”
• The site should be within 30 miles of a population center, within 45 minutes of international airport, Not more than 1-2 miles from a major highway and convenient to mass transit.

4. Amazon is looking for quality of life to lure tech workers.

• According to their proposal, Amazon is seeking "a diverse population, excellent institutions of higher education, local government structure and elected officials eager and willing to work with the company, among other attributes. We want to invest in a community where our employees will enjoy living, recreational opportunities, educational opportunities, and an overall high quality of life."

5. Amazon seeks tax incentives. Amazon says its investments in Seattle from 2010 through 2016 resulted in "an additional $38 billion to the city’s economy – every dollar invested by Amazon in Seattle generated an additional $1.4 for the city’s economy overall," the company said.

Wherever Amazon chooses, the changes in the local economy will be significant.

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5 More Things You Should Know About Denver's Amazon HQ2 Bid

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