Posted on 09/17/2017 6:10:39 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
CHARLESTON — West Virginia House Delegate Moore Capito is asking Seattle-based Amazon to add the Mountain State to its short list of location candidates for its second corporate headquarters.
Capito, R-Kanawha, has sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos asking he consider placing West Virginia on his “top locations to choose from” list.
Amazon recently announced plans to invest $5 billion to build a second North American headquarters that would be called “Amazon HQ2,” which could potentially create up to 50,000 jobs.
Delegate Capito said West Virginia could be an ideal fit for Amazon’s vision, because the company could not only build a headquarters, but a surrounding community from the ground up.
“West Virginia presents a level of autonomy no other state can,” Capito said in his letter. “Your company (Amazon) requires a facility, but here you can build a community that houses a facility. We have the best and hardest working people in the country. With an abundance of land, energy, and natural beauty, Amazon’s HQ2 can meet and exceed its business needs, while invigorating the hope of a people and chartering a path to the future for an entire state.”
While business analysts say large cities including Boston and Atlanta are a likely fit for Amazon’s search criteria, Capito said. West Virginians shouldn’t automatically count themselves out.
“For us to win, we have to compete,” Capito said. “We have to think big and without limitations when we think about our future.”
And, according to Capito, there’s a sound ulterior motive to his corporate courting madness.
Even if Amazon doesn’t actually seriously consider or choose West Virginia for its second corporate home, Capito says the state still stands to benefit.
By throwing West Virginia’s name out there, it may pique other corporate companies’ interest to invest here, Capito said.
“I made a commitment to my constituents to make every effort to bring jobs to West Virginia, and that is what I am trying to do,” Capito said. “West Virginians are hard-working, dedicated people and any company would be well-served by expanding in our state.”
I thought Amazon made it clear that only locales with a million+ population need apply...?
No way a state that went for Trump gets this deal.
Note to Amazon: If y’all would care to put your $$$ where your mouths are, you’d site it in Upstate NY.
Amazon to Capito ... “You voted against overturning Obamacare after promising to repeal it for seven years, so your word is worthless anyway. We’ll go someplace where the politicians are a little less phony.”
But if it means state and local taxpayers will be screwed by having to pay for the bribes to get Amazon to come, DON’T site in NYS.
I’m thinking W.Va. is going to come up a bit short on both the ‘downtown’ and the ‘airport’ requirements.
If Amazon wanted to think outside the box, they’d put Detroit on the list. Hub airport, downtown, cheap land. Not exactly a magnet for attracting the best employees, perhaps.
If I was running it for Amazon, I’d start with a list of hub cities, run a ‘show me the money’ round, and then shortlist and evaluate for employee desirability.
Would that turn West Virginia blue? If so, Capito should reneg on that LIKE NOW.
If the CEO is smart they will locate to the nearest Fed X facility. Major Fed X hub is Memphis.
That's a very real thing. One imagines that the primary HQ2 raison d'etre is 'what if' Seattle ... that puts HQ2 east of the Mississippi ... and well inland ... So Bezos could do the most political damage in this order: Atlanta, Detroit, Cincy/Dayton/Columbus, Indy, or the Triangle (which I doubt).
The actual RFP is dry toast but there was an article that deep-dived...the takeaway being that Bezos will allow all silo heads to side with Seattle, OR new HQ2, OR split teams between. One presumes that when no one wants to leave Seattle, Bezos will rapidly ordain the latter option.
No, but it might turn Kanawha County Commie RED.
If I were Jim Justice, I would say to Amazon, “you can come to my state as long as you leave ALL of your Seattle workforce behind.”
That ain’t happenin’.
I’ve heard that whore Capito comes pretty cheap!
Not likely—with one exception. If they would consider Martinsburg—and let everybody commute in from the DC area. But the average commute and distance to the airport would probably break the deal.
Areas without heavy union influence, at least average education system--and then the usual bodies, airport, and roads...
Denver, DFW, Kansas City, Columbus
Luckily it’s probably not happening anyway as West Virginia doesn’t have a large enough population.
There’s also Indianapolis, Phoenix, and San Antonio
Moore Capito is a West Virginia House Delegate, the son of Shelley Capito the US Senator from WV. He seems to be getting ready to follow his mother.
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