Every city or town in the United States and Canada is making an attempt to lure Amazon to have its headquarters. Amazon is planning a second company headquarter and the cities are making all efforts about why Amazon should not overlook the benefits they can offer. The cities are offering potential tax breaks along with local opportunities to Amazon without really having an indication of what the requirements of Amazon are in a potential location. The financial services Department of Moody’s considered what Amazon may want in a location of their choice either stated or inferred and has come up with a list of the best cities for the second headquarters of Amazon.
Amazon has made a commitment to invest $5 billion for the construction of its new headquarters which it hopes would ultimately house 50,000 employees from Amazon as it gradually builds up its workforce.
The data compiled by Moody’s considered factors like business environment, quality-of-life, human capital, cost, transportation and geography. Numbers were assigned to every city along with a weight to generate a list of cities. Seattle was however excluded from the list as it presently holds the current headquarters of Amazon.
Given below are the cities Moody’s believes are suitable for Amazon’s second headquarters worth $5 billion.
Austin, Texas
The cost of living in Austin is more affordable than in places like Silicon Valley. Despite house prices rising or even considered high for Texas and the South they are still affordable when compared to the prices in California and the Northeast. The quality of life is high and many people may decide to live in “Silicon Hills.” Austin, Texas is a state which is business friendly and is always looking to attract and retain companies.
Atlanta, Georgia
6 million residents are living in this metro area which is also a supply chain hub and has a growing workforce in the tech industry. Atlanta is also home to the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport which is a point of entry that is globally connected. Atlanta has superior logistics and fiber connectivity which is adequate. It has also become an important professional service hub in the South and offers competitive costs for doing business by supporting corporate relocations and expansions.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia has an inefficient tax structure along with public sector pension problems. The state is saddled with fiscal problems and also has a structural deficit in its budget. It is hitherto unknown whether the city or the state could be willing or even make an attempt to offer generous incentives to Amazon for its second headquarters. Fortunately, Philadelphia also has its benefits and they are outweighing the problems that are plaguing the city. If Amazon decides on Philadelphia it would be making a choice at the appropriate moment. The city is experiencing a boom at the moment but the effects haven’t really taken hold of the city making it expensive and therefore could be an attractive choice for the retailing giant.
Rochester, New York
Low cost of living and high-quality research universities that support innovation along with a qualified workforce when compared to the upstate New York peers is an attraction of this metro area. Rochester was earlier identified as a company town which headquartered Xerox and Kodak which are no longer the companies they were earlier. The void created by these companies has made available a number of commercial locks which could be perfect for the second headquarters of Amazon.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is presently a destination favored by technology companies and could already be under the radar of Amazon which is already expanding its footprint in the city. Pittsburgh could easily be the choice for Amazon’s second headquarters because of the convenience it could offer to the company which already has a small presence in the city.
The cities discussed in this article will not be the final destination of the second headquarters of Amazon because they are likely to face competition from cities such as Miami, Florida, Portland, Oregon and Boston Massachusetts which will all be making concerted efforts to attract the investment that Amazon is likely to make to their cities. Amazon has, until this moment, not disclosed their choice for the second location and the cities mentioned within this article are just estimates compiled by Moody’s.
The city that will be chosen by Amazon will be the envy of the rest because the nature of investment Amazon can bring in can change the outlook of a city for a long time to come.
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