Amazon planning second headquarters with 50,000 jobs

[Muta]

Originally Posted by Table 5

And I think that's one of the main goals. Reality says we won't get Amazon, but if Calgary can get onto a shortlist and get some media attention, it will put us on the radar for everyone else. It may not be someone on the scale of Amazon, but it doesn't necessarily have to be to help diversify our economy.

Agreed. I've said before in this thread that other tech firms are using this campaign as a litmus test for future expansion opportunities. Others are absolutely watching this. There is quite a bit of side benefit to CED going all out doing this, and it extends past Amazon itself.

[CroFlames]

But then again, why should we settle playing second fiddle?

Amazon or bust!

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

But then again, why should we settle playing second fiddle?

Amazon or bust!

I'll take an Ali baba please.

[Flames0910]

Calgary with the header image on The Verge's listicle on crazy pitches.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19/...crest-new-york

[Lanny_McDonald]

New Jersey offers $7B in tax incentives. Newark setting the bar.

Even though there are some civic groups demanding that Amazon pay property taxes like everyone else, there are cities tripping all over themselves to "earn this business." $3B? $7B? Will a subsidy of that magnitude ever be paid off?

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by New Era

New Jersey offers $7B in tax incentives. Newark setting the bar.

Even though there are some civic groups demanding that Amazon pay property taxes like everyone else, there are cities tripping all over themselves to "earn this business." $3B? $7B? Will a subsidy of that magnitude ever be paid off?

That's funny, I don't recall Amazon saying they would only open up HQ2 in the US.

Amazon’s plans to open a second headquarters, dubbed HQ2, in a major US city have set off an often bizarre bidding frenzy as municipalities pitch for the company’s business.

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

That's funny, I don't recall Amazon saying they would only open up HQ2 in the US.

It's certainly safe to assume it will end up in the US, but it's also not surprising that US-centric news sites will forget that Canada exists.

I'd love to see the think-pieces these sites would do if Amazon did choose a Canadian city.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

It's certainly safe to assume it will end up in the US, but it's also not surprising that US-centric news sites will forget that Canada exists.

I'd love to see the think-pieces these sites would do if Amazon did choose a Canadian city.

Well, for starters the headline would be something like "Where is Calgary, anyway?" and many many others along those lines.

[Weitz]

I almost have this feeling Amazon will 'select' a Canadian city, and there will be a huge outcry in the USA and then they will get some crazy incentives on top of what they are being offered now and then will pull the Canadian 'Selection' and go to somewhere in the USA.

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

That's funny, I don't recall Amazon saying they would only open up HQ2 in the US.

You'll have to excuse the bias in the links. Americans seem to think this will be in the United States, and probably rightly so. Amazon earns 66% of their revenues from the United States market. Only 1% is earned in Canada. It would be political suicide to move those jobs out of the United States.

I gotta say, I really like the Calgary campaign. Very creative, with the exception of the homeless looking guy looking to wrestle a bear. My heart still hopes that Amazon goes rogue and does the unthinkable. But as I've been saying all along, how do you compete with the power of the American economy, the American tax systems, the American political system, and the willingness of Americans to just throw insane amounts of money around to solve a problem. $7B in tax incentives? How do you raise the bar?

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by New Era

You'll have to excuse the bias in the links. Americans seem to think this will be in the United States, and probably rightly so. Amazon earns 66% of their revenues from the United States market. Only 1% is earned in Canada. It would be political suicide to move those jobs out of the United States.

I gotta say, I really like the Calgary campaign. Very creative, with the exception of the homeless looking guy looking to wrestle a bear. My heart still hopes that Amazon goes rogue and does the unthinkable. But as I've been saying all along, how do you compete with the power of the American economy, the American tax systems, the American political system, and the willingness of Americans to just throw insane amounts of money around to solve a problem. $7B in tax incentives? How do you raise the bar?

Who the hell wants to live and work in Newark? It legit looks like a 3rd world country in many parts. Amazon also has to take into account the quality of life of their employees; not to mention the local talent pool should be fairly educated to begin with. You can't import 100% of your employees.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Weitz

I almost have this feeling Amazon will 'select' a Canadian city, and there will be a huge outcry in the USA and then they will get some crazy incentives on top of what they are being offered now and then will pull the Canadian 'Selection' and go to somewhere in the USA.

lol. what are they going to do? boycott Amazon in the US? No chance of that happening.

[Hockeyguy15]

If it was such a slam dunk that the US was where they were going to pick, I'm not sure why they didn't state that in their criteria. Obviously they are open to putting it in Canada regardless of their revenue being made mostly in the US.

I don't see a company of that size wasting their own time by allowing bids from Canada if they hadn't done a little bit of informal research on their own.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

If it was such a slam dunk that the US was where they were going to pick, I'm not sure why they didn't state that in their criteria. Obviously they are open to putting it in Canada regardless of their revenue being made mostly in the US.

I don't see a company of that size wasting their own time by allowing bids from Canada if they hadn't done a little bit of informal research on their own.

To get better perks from the cities you actually want to go to? Standard practice.

[Leeman4Gilmour]

To evaluate objectively, they'll have bid evaluation criteria already set with weightings assigned to each RFP component. Geograhical location will be a part of that. How important a part? No one knows except for Amazon at this time. But, if being in an American city is super important, that will be weighed heavily and Calgary will take a hit in that category. However, if proximity to Seattle is important, Calgary will score well here. Maybe, location isn't all that important, will have a low weighting, and the economic "section" of the bid evaluation will be heavily weighted. As in 80% of the bid score. Which wouldn't surprise me. This will be a tough bid to evaluate without emotion and subjectivity creeping into the discussion I'm sure. It'll be set up to be as objective as possible.

The Americans will for sure be pissed if Amazon awards to a Canadian city. But, people have short term memories. And, the rest of the world might appreciate Amazon more if they make it easier for top end talent to get a job with them.

[taco.vidal]

50,000 employees at a single employer in a city of just over a million people sounds like Amazon could have the city by the balls anytime they needed anything.

Whats the current biggest employer in Calgary? For comparison, even in the province, how many people does the provincial government employ

[CroFlames]

Besides the obvious economic benefit Calgary would receiving by winning the bid, watching Trump lose his mind and stomp around bitching and moaning about some faux patriotism will be just as rewarding. Watching him encourage patriots to boycott Amazon will be down right comical.

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

50,000 employees at a single employer in a city of just over a million people sounds like Amazon could have the city by the balls anytime they needed anything.

Whats the current biggest employer in Calgary? For comparison, even in the province, how many people does the provincial government employ

I think that 50k is potential future state. I think right off the bat it will be 5k.

[Robbob]

I think pre-downturn a couple of the bigger companies were probably close to 4k.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

50,000 employees at a single employer in a city of just over a million people sounds like Amazon could have the city by the balls anytime they needed anything.

Whats the current biggest employer in Calgary? For comparison, even in the province, how many people does the provincial government employ

I don't know how accurate or current these numbers are: https://calgary.foundlocally.com/HR/Jobs-Employers.htm


According to that, 50,000 jobs would not only make Amazon the largest employer in Calgary, but they'd be bigger than the next 4 combined.