Amazon has announced their list of the 20 areas currently under consideration for their second headquarters. Three of the contenders are right here in the DMV area!
The DMV area could soon be the home of the Amazon second headquarters. Amazon is currently considering 20 areas for the headquarters which includes Montgomery County, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia. The DMV is the highest represented area out of all the current contenders. Other potential areas for the headquarters include Austin, New York City and Toronto. Amazon has received 238 bids from areas across North America. The company has been quiet about the bidding process but said they were specifically looking at metropolitan areas with one million people and a stable, business-friendly environment. What exactly is a business-friendly environment? A recent CNBC analysis picked the DMV area as a high contender for the Amazon second headquarters because of Virginia's business friendly regulations. The DMV's educated workforce doesn't hurt its chances either! [caption id="attachment_8210" align="aligncenter" width="2330"]
Courtesy of GeekWire[/caption]
The bid submitted by the city of Washington, D.C. offers the online retailer a zero percent corporate tax rate for five years and a reduction in the corporate tax rate from nine percent to six percent for the lifetime of the company after the five years. The city also said it would invest in an education and training center named "Amazon University". Maryland Governor Larry Hogan will offer Amazon more than $3 billion in tax breaks and grants.
While these are steep tax breaks, it could also help the local economy. The new Amazon second headquarters is estimated to bring 50,000 high paying jobs and Amazon will be investing $5 billion into the project.
The DMV area may have an edge over the competition because Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has connections to the area. Bezos owns The Washington Post and recently purchased a home in Washington, D.C. In addition to this, Amazon's cloud service, Amazon Web Service, already has a large data center located in Northern Virginia.
Amazon executives have already visited Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Executives dined with Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam. According to the Washington Post, Mayor Bowser proposed the Amazon second headquarters be built in the Northeast neighborhood by Union Station, the U Street neighborhood in Northwest and by the Anacostia River in Southeast.
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Courtesy of DC Preservation League[/caption]
Virginia Governor Northam stated, "Virginia’s outstanding business climate and world-class workforce make our Commonwealth the right place for Amazon to place this key base of operations. We look forward to a continuing partnership with our Northern Virginia communities to show Amazon and job creators all over the world that the Commonwealth is the best place to locate and grow."
Maryland Governor Larry Hogan stated, "HQ2 is the single greatest economic development opportunity in a generation, and we’re committing all of the resources we have to bring it home to Maryland."
Amazon is expected to make a decision in 2018. Stay tuned for updates!
What do you think? Do you want the Amazon second headquarters to be in the DMV area? Let us know in the comments below, and let's get the conversation started.
