Despite Herculean efforts by officials on both sides of the state line, Kansas City missed the mark for Amazon HQ2. The e-commerce giant released a short list of potential locations for its coveted second headquarters, and Kansas City isn’t on it.
Today we are announcing the communities that will proceed to the next step in the HQ2 process. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough – all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity https://t.co/x1bFYbk4Ui pic.twitter.com/J2x0HHzBTR
— Amazon News (@amazonnews) January 18, 2018
The KC bid included input from both Kansas and Missouri as well as 18 counties and 50 cities in the metro, but due to non-disclosure requirements, much of the information in the Kansas City regional bid for HQ2 was kept under wraps.
The proposal highlighted Kansas City’s affordability, quality of life and strong growth in key sectors, as well as 1,000 locally-inspired Amazon reviews by Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Sly James. It wasn’t enough to put the metro on the short list, though.
Troy Schulte, KC city manager, said the city’s Amazon bid was a great team effort.
“It was a creative bid, and we will continue to be aggressive in pursuing these opportunities for KCMO. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Also, the national publicity for Kansas City generated by this competition shared news about our city’s momentum and economic growth,” he said in a statement.
Amazon winnowed a list of 238 bids to 20 communities. Amazon sought a business-friendly metro area with 1-million in population. Amazon said its second headquarters, or HQ2, will bring 50,000 new jobs and a $5 billion building to some North American city.
Those on the short list include: Atlanta; Austin; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Maryland; Nashville; Newark; New York City; Northern Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh; Toronto and Washington, D.C.
Three on the short-list are within the Washington, D.C. metro, including the district itself. One Canadian city, Toronto, also landed on the list. Two Texas cities–Austin and Dallas–are still being considered. Only one West Coast city, Los Angeles, made the short list. Amazon is headquartered in Seattle.