Could Atlanta be in the running for second Amazon headquarters? (Dallas: regulations, progressive)

[Otakumaster]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Where have you been for the past 10 years or so? lol

Originally Posted by citidata18

You mean it's not already real expensive? lol.

I know. They aint seen nothing yet.

[earthlyfather]

What matters to Amazon is that Georgia remains a business friendly state. As to who is the head of that state, it is immaterial, as long as that head does not make the state unfriendly to business. The City of Seattle leadership pretty well proved that when they pulled their short-lived employee tax to support what city policy and practice did not. Amazon among other big tech employers got their message across, City of Seattle governance reversed course.

Originally Posted by EastsideLA213

I have a feeling Amazon is waiting for elections. There is ZERO chance Bezos will place HQ2 in a state that elects Brian Kemp, absolutely zero. He cares greatly about political optics and he simply won’t work with an absolute embarrassing redneck yahoo like this. On the flip side if Abrams somehow wins that’s exactly the type of optics he loves. We shall see.

[earthlyfather]

This comes close to dog whistle politics. Bezos and his leadership knows all about these things, puts them in the proper light among their priorities. He and his executives want, make that demand, you can count on it, a consistently business friendly environment and attitude by the HQ2 STATE (in GA, prolly more important than) and City. Atlanta and Georgia have shown they are that for now on 10 years, as far as the "best for" lists. I do not think Ms Abrams, nor Mr Kemp want to be the one ending that string.

Originally Posted by Forhall

HQ2 will need employees, and they tend to be younger and college educated. The type of employee Amazon needs will not be moving to a state in the news for religious liberty bills.

Furthermore, people need to understand the role business play in LGBT rights. It's easy to say that all they care about is profit, but there are huge groups of very influential business leaders out there who are working to wield the power of business for good and to end discrimination. There have been numerous times that large businesses have forced changes in LGBT policy by governments through economic threats. Amazon is no different. Bezos will not be making this decision alone, and everyone on the board is going to be lobbied hard against Atlanta if Kemp is elected and threatens religious liberty.

[OneDawg]

Originally Posted by cparker73

I recall hearing a few weeks ago about a big announcement for a corporate relocation. Could Atlanta land Amazon? Speculate away....

Amazon wants to open a $5 billion second HQ in North America - Sep. 7, 2017

Oh, I hope not. After the govt gives away all the infrastructure, roads, tax breaks - they'll never recoup any of that money. Why would Amazon want to pay corp tax?

[Atlwarrior]

Interesting CNBC, article on why Amazon should split the retail and web services part of its company to avoid Anti-trust scrutiny.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/17/amaz...hoo&yptr=yahoo

[WinstonSmith26]

Originally Posted by bu2

Its all about the Benjamins. Google is liberal politically but is writing software to help the Chinese censor searches in China so they can make money there. Amazon like all other companies is almost solely concerned about how much money it means to them.

If you research the Amazon VP of Real Estate, John Schoettler, you'll see why that is not entirely true of Amazon. Schoettler, who leads the search for HQ2, is gay and has made it clear that Amazon wants to be in an urban area that is welcoming to every kind of talent that Amazon needs. Also cares deeply about helping the homeless (built a shelter at HQ1) and using the influence Amazon wields to affect positive change. You may be cynical about their intentions, but they are true believers.

Now that we are this close to the election, I believe they are going to wait for it to pass before announcing. If Abrams wins, Atl gets a serious look. Amazon would ride the great PR that GA will get from Abrams' win, and celebrate Atlanta as the "New South" - tech savvy and racially progressive. If Kemp wins, Amazon avoids that controversy, and goes to NOVA / Crystal City / Arlington.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by WinstonSmith26

If you research the Amazon VP of Real Estate, John Schoettler, you'll see why that is not entirely true of Amazon. Schoettler, who leads the search for HQ2, is gay and has made it clear that Amazon wants to be in an urban area that is welcoming to every kind of talent that Amazon needs. Also cares deeply about helping the homeless (built a shelter at HQ1) and using the influence Amazon wields to affect positive change. You may be cynical about their intentions, but they are true believers.

Now that we are this close to the election, I believe they are going to wait for it to pass before announcing. If Abrams wins, Atl gets a serious look. Amazon would ride the great PR that GA will get from Abrams' win, and celebrate Atlanta as the "New South" - tech savvy and racially progressive. If Kemp wins, Amazon avoids that controversy, and goes to NOVA / Crystal City / Arlington.

ATL is already gay friendly, regardless of the elections. Furthermore why would a city from N.C. remain in the running if that was the case. I think our airport, colleges, and cost of living will bring us HQ2. ATL is one of the few cities that have two Gay Pride national events.

[WinstonSmith26]

My hope is you are right, but my concern is that Amazon has too many good options. I don't see this socially active company opening in a gay friendly city within a state electing a gay hostile governor. My point above was that social issues are uniquely important to Amazon in ways they might not be for NCR, Rubbermaid, Norfolk-Southern, etc., and will factor significantly into the HQ2 decision.

And my secondary point is that these are the tipping point issues. Of course the economics are critical (i.e. Iconographer, et al.), and Atlanta checks them all. But Amazon can find the business needs they are after in at least 5 of the top 20. For ATL to get this, there will need to be a compelling marketing/PR/social change reason. Blue Origin is an example - JB has said he will happily fund it as a losing venture to make it happen, just because it's important to him.

Link re John Schoettler - https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/...tive-john.html

[-thomass]

I don’t get why Amazon needs Abrams to win. It’s all about the Benjamins. If Seattle wasn’t so anti-business, none of this would be happening anyways.
Deal was a good ole boy conservative too, but he managed to grow our economy like no other. Even Hollywood moved here.

[brown_dog_us]

If the finalist had to be in a left leaning state that is LGBTQ friendly the list of potential cities wouldn't include Atlanta, Raleigh, Dallas, Austin, etc.