Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozy_Flame
For those that think the bid was simply a public-facing branding exercise, you're way off the mark. There is little doubt CED submitted a data-driven, facts based document - basically a heavily detailed business plan - to Amazon with projected numbers and forecasting models around costs, land, quality of life models, etc.
I think Calgary alone will be short-listed based on the homework they submitted. I doubt many other municipalities probably did the same diligence as CED.
|
Really? You don't think that other municipalities will have this same data available to present to Amazon? You don't think that CED probably learned their lessons of what information to put into a presentation by going off the presentations of others in the past? When you consider some of the competition, and the businesses that have been attracted to some of the other cities in the competition, you think that Calgary is doing something that much different than other cities? I guess its possible, but in a day where every decision in municipalities is driven by data, I don't think this would be something that other cities aren't already doing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Muta
For a city trying to diversify away from oil and gas and attract non-local businesses (particularly in the tech sector), the Amazon bid is the exact type of opportunity CED should be pursuing. Regardless of one's personal opinion on Amazon as a company, the economic impact of securing such an investment would dramatically change the dynamic of the Calgary economy for generations to come. Our city needs to evolve as the world evolves; this is a potential knock-on-the-door to kickstart that process.
Not pursuing the Amazon bid could actually end up being costlier in the long run.
|
I completely agree. Calgary needs to diversify their economy in a big way. But I also think Calgary should play some bantam and midget hockey before they try and skate in a big league game. I see the benefit of the process, but I would aim for something smaller, like a Giga Factory.
