Pittsburgh Submits Amazon HQ2 Proposal

PITTSBURGH, PA - Meeting Thursday’s deadline for proposals, Pittsburgh has submitted its bid to be the site of Amazon’s second headquarters. Officials say the proposal, titled “Future. Forged. For All,” directly addresses the requirements Amazon identified last month in its request for proposals.

Forged by a team of civic, business, university and foundation leaders over the past six weeks, the bid now will be considered by Amazon along the proposals from dozens of other cities. The e-commerce giant will select the winning location in 2018 before investing as much as $50 billion in its new campus, which eventually could have as many as 50,000 workers..

What is contained in the mammoth proposal, reportedly two inches thick, was not disclosed. Citing the competitive nature of the bid process, specifics such as key sites and economic details of Pittsburgh’s offer remain confidential under a non-disclosure agreement signed with Amazon.

Two elected officials who are privy to the details of the bid, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, are pleased with it.

“Beyond a great place to do business, with unique financial and quality of life advantages, our proposal offers unmatched opportunity to address social equity investments in education, infrastructure and housing affordability,” Peduto said.

“It’s a proud moment for Pittsburgh,” Fitzgerald said.”We have been preparing for this for 30 years. Our region has tremendous assets that should be appealing to Amazon: a world-class talent pool, high quality of life at a low cost, a stable business environment, and significant capacity to grow.”

A study released last weekend by Moody’s Analytics ranks Pittsburgh among the top five cities Amazon should consider as the site of its second headquarters, and if geography is included among other factors weighed it’s the second-best locale.

Moody’s considered business environment, human capital, cost, quality of life and transportation to develop the rankings.

Photo: Patch file.