Amazon Opens Search for Amazon HQ2

[tubemonkey]

Amazon Selects New York City and Northern Virginia for New Headquarters

Amazon to invest $5 billion and create more than 50,000 jobs across the two new headquarters

Amazon announces Nashville as new Operations Center of Excellence with more than 5,000 jobs

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2018-- Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced that it has selected New York City and Arlington, Virginia, as the locations for the company’s new headquarters. Amazon will invest $5 billion and create more than 50,000 jobs across the two new headquarters locations, with more than 25,000 employees each in New York City and Arlington. The new locations will join Seattle as the company’s three headquarters in North America. In addition, Amazon announced that it has selected Nashville for a new Center of Excellence for its Operations business, which is responsible for the company’s customer fulfillment, transportation, supply chain, and other similar activities. The Operations Center of Excellence in Nashville will create more than 5,000 jobs.

The new Washington, D.C. metro headquarters in Arlington will be located in National Landing, and the New York City headquarters will be located in the Long Island City neighborhood in Queens. Amazon’s investments in each new headquarters will spur the creation of tens of thousands of additional jobs in the surrounding communities. Hiring at both the new headquarters will begin in 2019. The Operations Center of Excellence will be located in downtown Nashville as part of a new development site just north of the Gulch, and hiring will also begin in 2019.

“We are excited to build new headquarters in New York City and Northern Virginia,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon. “These two locations will allow us to attract world-class talent that will help us to continue inventing for customers for years to come. The team did a great job selecting these sites, and we look forward to becoming an even bigger part of these communities.”

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[tubemonkey]

Amazon drops plan to build headquarters in New York City

Amazon canceled plans to build a campus in New York City with at least 25,000 high-paying jobs on Thursday because of resistance from local elected officials, unions and community activists who said a project initially hailed as an economic triumph was a lousy deal.

“There are a number of folks on the ground who oppose our presence,” Amazon spokeswoman Jodi Seth said. “We don’t think there’s a path forward in terms of working with them over the long term.”

The company issued a statement shortly before noon saying it did not intend to reopen its search for a second headquarters at this time, but would continue with plans to put at least 25,000 jobs in Arlington in Northern Virginia and 5,000 in Nashville.

The decision was a stunning reversal for Amazon, which badly miscalculated how it would be received when it said it would put half of the 50,000 jobs promised in its much-publicized HQ2 search in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens.

[HarryT]

Do you know what it was that people were objecting to? One might have thought that most communities would welcome a large employer offering well-paying jobs. Was it that local people weren't qualified enough to be likely to get the jobs?

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Amazon drops plan to build headquarters in New York City

Can't say that I'm shocked. The same sort of groups of people with their palms up expecting a big payoff comes around in a lot of cities. We saw the same thing here in Atlanta when they were building the Dome. Bezos is smart enough to cut his loses and move on.

[pwalker8]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you know what it was that people were objecting to? One might have thought that most communities would welcome a large employer offering well-paying jobs. Was it that local people weren't qualified enough to be likely to get the jobs?

It's the NYC way of doing things. For the most part, it's local politicians and community groups expecting a big payoff to let it go through. I'm sure here are probably a few who don't want any changes in their neighborhood as well.

[Greg Anos]

It's called "voting with your feet". . .

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Do you know what it was that people were objecting to? One might have thought that most communities would welcome a large employer offering well-paying jobs. Was it that local people weren't qualified enough to be likely to get the jobs?

These were high paying jobs averaging $150,000/year. The applicants would be coming from everywhere but the local area and would drive housing and other costs higher for the locals.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Amazon drops plan to build headquarters in New York City

Basically, the local politicians expected to call all the hiring, firing, and planning shots. The corporation was supposed to to do a "thank you for letting us in, anything you want" response.

Bezos took one look at that noose and said - no thank you. . .

[Greg Anos]

And by the by, this was AOC's constituency. . .

"Anything is possible," she tweeted on Thursday in response to Amazon's decision. "Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world."

And the paychecks, as well. . . .

[murraypaul]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

And by the by, this was AOC's constituency. . .

"Anything is possible," she tweeted on Thursday in response to Amazon's decision. "Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world."

And the paychecks, as well. . . .

The context was Amazon's anti-union stance.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

And by the by, this was AOC's constituency. . .

"Anything is possible," she tweeted on Thursday in response to Amazon's decision. "Today was the day a group of dedicated, everyday New Yorkers & their neighbors defeated Amazon's corporate greed, its worker exploitation, and the power of the richest man in the world."

And the paychecks, as well. . . .

What paychecks?

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

What paychecks?

The paychecks attached to those 25,000 jobs that aren't going to be there. . . . You know the ones with the $150K average pricetag.

There's a term for this. it's called a pyrrhic victory . . .

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

The paychecks attached to those 25,000 jobs that aren't going to be there. . . . You know the ones with the $150K average pricetag.

Great news for the locals. Their property taxes won't be going up now.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

There's a term for this. it's called a pyrrhic victory . . .

Like when a community wins a sports franchise by footing all or nearly all the bill for the new stadium and the compensating revenue never materializes or wins a Walmart by making huge tax concessions that are never recovered.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

Like when a community wins a sports franchise by footing all or nearly all the bill for the new stadium and the compensating revenue never materializes or wins a Walmart by making huge tax concessions that are never recovered.

Bingo!