Over a hundred cities across the US have expressed interest in being home to Amazon’s second headquarters since the Seattle-based company asked for proposals six weeks ago.
The tech giant and most valuable retailer in the United States by market capitalization, will invest $5bn (£3.8bn) and employ 50,000 people at the new headquarters.
Amazon says the new headquarters will be a “full equal” to its main base in Seattle. Amazon’s current Seattle headquarters employs more than 40,000 people in 33 buildings.
Amazon is looking for a metropolitan area with a population of at least 1 million and proximity to an international airport, access to mass transit, quality higher education, an educated workforce and a business-friendly environment and amenities that give it “the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent.”
Cities that have expressed interest include: Boston; Miami; Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth and El Paso in Texas; Chicago; Cleveland and Cincinnati in Ohio; Oklahoma City; Salt Lake City; Camden and Newark in New Jersey; Pittsburgh; Kansas City; Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona; Nashville and Memphis in Tennessee; and Detroit and Grand Rapids in Michigan.
Mark Zandi and Adam Ozimek of Moody’s assessed which cities best meet Amazon’s requirements using a data-based approach on five broad categories – business environment, human capital, cost, quality of life, and transportation.
Austin TX came in first place, according to the overall rankings, followed by Atlanta and Philadelphia.
