A scene of sunset in Tysons Corner, Virginia Photo: Grayscapturedmoments/Wikimedia Commons
Three places in Washington metro area, the District, Northern Virginia and Montgomery County, are in competition with 17 other locations to host Amazon’s second headquarters.
The largest Internet retailer and tech giant has narrowed down its list of prospective locations to 20 after several American cities offered a host of incentives to house the prized facility to be constructed at a cost of $ 5 billion. The company will decide this year about which area suits its business plan best.
According to Amazon, the HQ2 will be generate a huge economic activity with 50,000 high-paying jobs. The HQ2 will be a full equal to Amazon’s current campus in Seattle.
Besides materializing 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 retailer says on its website.
“We are looking for a location with strong local and regional talent—particularly in software development and related fields—as well as a stable and business-friendly environment to continue hiring and innovating on behalf of our customers.”
The next phase under the plan involves Amazon working with each of the candidate locations to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information as necessary, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the mega company’s hiring plans and benefit both the employees and the local community.
Since Amazon announced its plan to have its second headquarters, cities have been vying with one another to present the best possible facilities and incentives like tax breaks to win over the fast-expanding company.
According to Amazon, its investments in Seattle from 2010 through 2016 led to an additional $38 billion flow into the city’s economy, with every dollar invested by Amazon in Seattle generating an additional $1.40 for the city’s economy overall.
