Amazon Narrows Down Candidates for 2nd HQ

Amazon has narrowed its list of candidates in its quest to find a suitable spot for its second headquarters, cutting the number of metropolitan areas from 238 to 20.

Currently, Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Md.; Nashville; Newark, N.J.; New York; northern Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, N.C.; Toronto; and Washington, D.C., are contenders in the Seattle-based company’s quest for a second home.

Amazon evaluated each proposal based on the criteria outlined in its RFP to create the list of 20 candidates that will continue in the selection process. In the coming months, Amazon will work with each location to dive deeper into their proposals, obtain more information and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the company’s hiring plans while benefiting employees and the local community.

Having first revealed the search for a second headquarters late last summer, the ecommerce giant expects to invest more than $5 billion in its construction and grow it to include up to 50,000 high-paying jobs, fully equal to the current Seattle campus. In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon’s second headquarters is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs, along with tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.

Amazon will reveal the winner sometime this year.

“Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” said Holly Sullivan, the head of worldwide economic development at Amazon Public Policy. “Through this process, we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”

Amazon made news earlier this week when One Click Retail revealed that the company now owns roughly one-fifth of the U.S. grocery ecommerce market. Moreover, weekly sales of Amazon Fresh more than doubled over the course of the year, rising to more than $7 million, from $3 million in 2017.