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Amazon is coming to town...


If you’re like us, you’ll probably see A LOT of Amazon this holiday season (especially on our credit card statements). And as the company plans to expand its North American footprint, some of us should prepare to see even more of the retail behemoth. (If you haven’t heard of Amazon’s corporate expansion, dubbed #HQ2, take a look at our background summary below.)

We believe in the awesome power of business and community partnerships; however, we also believe that both parties must communicate and invest in one another for sustainable win-win relationships. A majority of states, included all three of our corporate locations, have expressed interest in having Amazon as a close neighbor. These states have all submitted responses to Amazon’s request for proposal (RFP) so we decided to take a closer look at Project #HQ2.

The questions we wanted to answer are:

1) What did Amazon ask for?

2) What did each city and state offer to give?

3) How does a municipality strike a balance without inadvertently tipping the scale too far in one direction or the other?

In the end, we found:

* Amazon’s RFP was aggressive but not unreasonable,

* some locations were much more transparent than others,

* and balance depends on the needs of your particular location.

CCG KEY TAKE AWAY:

As community stakeholders, we have the right to dialogue with our elected officials and Amazon executives. We recommend speaking with your state’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and the Governor’s Office (they are all on Facebook and twitter) to understand what they proposed and what safe guards they put in place. Below is a list of contact info and resources (scroll to the end) that we hope helps keep you informed and connected.

Background:

In early September 2017, Amazon announced its intention to build a second North American Headquarters, a so called #HQ2. If fully realized, Amazon could eventually invest up to $5 billion in capital, and employ up to 50,000 workers over a 15-year period. Amazon also announced that cities and states would compete with one another in a bidding process to be considered for HQ2.

Cities and states were required to submit bids by October 19, 2017 and the responses range from silly to quite serious, including:

* Tucson, Arizona delivered a 21ft cactus to Amazon HQ1 in Seattle

* Stonecrest, Georgia offered to rename itself Amazon, Georgia

* Newark and the State of New Jersey are collectively offering $7 billion in incentives

* Chicago, Illinois is willing to let Amazon Corporate keep $1 billion in income taxes paid by employees

* Fresno, California will allow Amazon can tell the city how to use the tax money

In total, Amazon claims that they received over 200 bids from cities and states across Canada, Mexico and the United States. Some cities, such as Boston and the San Francisco Bay Area, provided a high degree transparency and even posted their bids on public websites. Other municipalities flatly refused to provide details of their bids.

What did Amazon ask for?

Amazon.com/amazonHQ2

Actual Amazon RFP (request for proposal)

How did cities respond?

List of City RFP responses (Special thanks to MuckRock and Adanya Lustig)

Boston RFP Response Link

SF RFP Response Link

Newark and New Jersey Press Conference

What are others saying?

Twitter and Facebook search #HQ2

Google Trends on HQ2

Relevant News Articles

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/07/technology/amazon-second-headquarters/?iid=EL

http://money.cnn.com/2017/09/11/technology/amazon-cities/index.html

https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2017/09/07/toronto-fighting-to-land-amazons-new-headquarters.html

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/this-city-hall-brought-to-you-by-amazon/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_title_1.1

https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/chicagos-amazon-hq2-bid-money-for-nothing-tifs-for-free/Content?oid=33535992

http://beta.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-amazon-fresno-20171025-story.html

Contact your Economic Development Association and Governor’s Office

All EDA sites

https://www.eda.gov/resources/

All Governors

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_United_States_governors

Alabama

http://www.madeinalabama.com/

https://twitter.com/MadeInAL

https://www.facebook.com/AlabamaDepartmentofCommerce

Kay Ivey

http://governor.alabama.gov/contact

https://twitter.com/GovernorKayIvey

https://www.facebook.com/KayIveyAL?notif_t=fbpage_admin

Alaska

https://www.commerce.alaska.gov/web/commissionersoffice.aspx

Bill Walker

https://gov.alaska.gov/

https://twitter.com/AkGovBillWalker

https://www.facebook.com/Governor.BillWalker

Arizona

http://www.azcommerce.com/join-us

https://twitter.com/azcommerce

https://www.facebook.com/azcommerce

Doug Doucey

https://azgovernor.gov/engage

https://twitter.com/dougducey

https://www.facebook.com/dougducey

California

http://business.ca.gov/

https://twitter.com/CAGoBiz

https://www.facebook.com/CAGOBiz/

Jerry Brown

https://govapps.gov.ca.gov/gov39mail/

https://twitter.com/jerrybrowngov?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/jerrybrown

Colorado

https://choosecolorado.com/contact-us/

https://twitter.com/ColoradoEcoDevo

https://www.facebook.com/ColoradoEcoDevo/?ref=hl

John Hickenlooper

https://www.colorado.gov/governor/

https://twitter.com/hickforco

https://www.facebook.com/JohnHickenlooper/

Connecticut

http://www.ct.gov/ecd/cwp/view.asp?a=1095&q=249626

https://twitter.com/ctdecd

https://www.facebook.com/CTDECD/

Dan Malloy

http://portal.ct.gov/office-of-the-governor

https://twitter.com/GovMalloyOffice

https://www.facebook.com/GovMalloyOffice

Delaware

https://business.delaware.gov/contact/

John Carney

https://governor.delaware.gov/contact-connect/

https://twitter.com/johncarneyde/

https://www.facebook.com/JohnCarneyDE/

Florida

https://www.enterpriseflorida.com/contact/

https://twitter.com/enterprisefl

https://www.facebook.com/EnterpriseFlorida

Rick Scott

http://www.flgov.com/contact-gov-scott/

https://twitter.com/FLGovScott

https://www.facebook.com/scottforflorida/

Georgia

http://www.georgia.org/about-us/

https://twitter.com/gdecd

https://www.facebook.com/gdecd

Nathan Deal

https://gov.georgia.gov/webform/contact-governor

https://twitter.com/GovernorDeal

https://www.facebook.com/GovernorDeal/

Idaho

https://commerce.idaho.gov/contact-us/

https://twitter.com/IdahoCommerce

https://www.facebook.com/IdahoCommerce

Butch Otter

https://gov.idaho.gov/ourgov/contact.html

https://twitter.com/butchotter

https://www.facebook.com/Governor-C-L-Butch-Otter-292986829831/

Illinois

https://www.illinois.gov/dceo/Pages/ContactUs.aspx

https://twitter.com/IllinoisDCEO

https://www.facebook.com/illinoisdceo

Bruce Rauner

https://www.illinois.gov/gov/contactus/Pages/default.aspx

https://twitter.com/govrauner?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/GovRauner/

Indiana

https://www.iedc.in.gov/about

https://twitter.com/indiana_edc

https://www.facebook.com/IndianaEDC/

Eric Holcomb

https://faqs.in.gov/hc/en-us/articles/115005057147-Where-can-I-find-Governor-Holcomb-s-address-phone-number-email-address-

https://twitter.com/govholcomb

https://www.facebook.com/GovHolcomb/

Massachusetts

https://www.mass.gov/orgs/executive-office-of-housing-and-economic-development

https://twitter.com/MassEOHED

Charlie Baker

https://www.mass.gov/orgs/office-of-the-governor

https://twitter.com/massgov

https://www.facebook.com/massgov

New Jersey

http://www.njeda.com/contact

Chris Christie

http://nj.gov/governor/contact/

https://twitter.com/GovChristie

https://www.facebook.com/GovChrisChristie

North Carolina

http://www.nccommerce.com/about-our-department/contact-us

https://twitter.com/nccommerce

https://www.facebook.com/thrivenc

Roy Cooper

https://governor.nc.gov/contact-governor-cooper

https://twitter.com/nc_governor

https://www.facebook.com/NCgovernor/

Pennsylvania

https://dced.pa.gov/contact-us/

https://twitter.com/PADCEDnews

https://www.facebook.com/PADCED

Tom Wolf

https://www.governor.pa.gov/contact/

https://twitter.com/GovernorTomWolf

https://www.facebook.com/governorwolf/

Rhode Island

http://www.admin.ri.gov/

Gina Raimondo

http://www.governor.ri.gov/contact/

https://twitter.com/ginaraimondo?lang=en

https://www.facebook.com/GinaMRaimondo

Texas

https://gov.texas.gov/organization/ecodev

Greg Abbott

https://gov.texas.gov/contact

https://twitter.com/GovAbbott

https://www.facebook.com/TexasGovernor

#amzn #community #EDA #EconomicDevelopmentAssociation #publicinterest #partnerships #HQ2 #HQ2 #headquarters #twitter #facebook #connect #RFP #winwin #balance

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