Posted on 09/20/2017 6:17:12 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Cities and states across the country leaped to their feet when e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) announced it was looking for a second location.
The online retailer wasn't shy in describing exactly what it wanted. And what that is, in case anyone was wondering, is incentives. "[T]his is a competitive project," the company said in its formal request for proposals, and "Amazon welcomes the opportunity to engage with you in the creation of an incentive package, real estate opportunities, and cost structure to encourage the company's location of the project in your state/province."
For many cities, that means an all-out hustle to get noticed by Oct. 19, the deadline for making a proposal. Efforts have included editorials, ads in The New York Times, promises from politicians and the gift of a giant saguaro cactus. Even Seattle, the site of Amazon's current headquarters, isn't sitting out the process of pitching for the company's second headquarters.
"There's a lot of money put into things like specialized infrastructure for a company," said Michael Mazerov, a fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "If they were to locate in a suburban location, it's not unheard of for states to build a major interchange. There are targeted training programs for employees. There are all kind of different incentives provided -- infrastructure, extensions of sewer lines."
But the most common incentives by far, Mazerov said, are tax cuts. "Unfortunately, they're perceived as costless," he said. "There's this attitude that 'if they hadn't come, we wouldn't have gotten any tax revenue to being with.'" However, localities often overestimate the value a project will add relative to the costs of infrastructure, transit and other services needed to support the company.....
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Downside? Lots more traffic and higher house prices.
I’d say Sparks, outside of Reno, near the GigaFactory.
Does Amazon make any money?
And an influx of a lot of liberal techie types in nominally conservative areas in some cases like Indianapolis.
Wherever it goes, the taxpayers of that community will be subsidizing it. In return, they will get thousands of new residents to clog their highways, schools, hospitals, shopping centers, etc. All this for left wing Jeff Bezos, one of the richest persons in the world. No thank you.
Amazon posted another solid earnings report for the first quarter, beating analyst estimates with revenue of $35.7 billion and handily surpassing profit expectations with earnings per share of $1.48.
The results mark the eighth quarter in a row that Amazon has posted a profit. Yes, the same Amazon that has long been maligned for its supposed inability to make money.
Where is Amazon one?
My inner ear says, once Amazon two is done, they are simply going to close the first one.
Just a hunch. Could be wrong...
Spring Hill, Tennessee has some vacant space.
Hey AMZ -
Stay away from here!
St. Louis self-destructed in grand fashion.
Bezos won’t settle in a “red” state, IMO.
And I hope he doesn’t.
But someone has been buying up a crap load of ground near Fishers just north of I69
Amazon said that a tolerant atmosphere was on their list of requirements.
We’ve had liberals saying you have to pass various hate speech ordinances, transgender approval laws, for businesses to relocate here.
You know that anywhere Amazon doesn’t go will have liberals screaming, “We’d have these jobs if you were just more tolerant, you evil haters!”
By tolerant they mean you must accept the lib viewpoint or you are a Nazi or what every they call people that disagree with them this week.
My hunch is probably somewhere on the East coast, but not farther West than Indianapolis.
And there is the rub. Why are so many car companies opening up shop in South Carolina?
I think most places would like Amazon. They don't really make anything. They sell stuff other people make. The dirty, dusty manufacturing jobs are somewhere else.
A HQ is just thousands of cubicle drones with computer screens. Now if they add a "fulfillment center" they will have a giant warehouse with shipping and receiving at a stupendous pace. So a fair amount of heavy traffic, maybe.
But, it is really clean compared to most industries that produce as much revenue.
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BTW, the vastly increased house prices are a benefit to homeowners who already live there.
The DFW area has a lot of what Amazon is looking for. It is a two-edged sword.
Columbus, OH is one of the 26 finalists listed in the article. They recently got a huge Amazon distribution center and also just so happen to be top 10 finalist for a new hyperloop.
http://nbc4i.com/2017/09/14/midwest-hyperloop-proposal-selected-to-move-forward-in-planning-process/
With their #1 concern being the ability to attract talent the access to Chicago and Pittsburgh would be important.
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