What are San Antonio's chances of getting Amazon 2nd HQ? (Houston: luxury, school district)

[Bo]

Originally Posted by SAguy

All the nay sayers said the samething about the Toyota plant....

Were you here when the Toyota plant was announced? Because the way that went down is nothing like how the Amazon HQ competition is transpiring.

Toyota kept its cards much closer to the vest than Amazon is doing. There was no open competition between cities to land a plant. There was no speculation that it would go somewhere else. There were rumors that the city officials were talking to an auto manufacturer that might locate here, a few months before it was announced, but that was nothing like this.

The arrival of the Toyota plant was more like the move of the AT&T headquarters from SA. Ed Whitacre retired, there was minor speculation about what that might mean, and then one day... Boom! AT&T announced it was leaving.

[SAguy]

Originally Posted by Bo

Were you here when the Toyota plant was announced? Because the way that went down is nothing like how the Amazon HQ competition is transpiring.

Toyota kept its cards much closer to the vest than Amazon is doing. There was no open competition between cities to land a plant. There was no speculation that it would go somewhere else. There were rumors that the city officials were talking to an auto manufacturer that might locate here, a few months before it was announced, but that was nothing like this.

The arrival of the Toyota plant was more like the move of the AT&T headquarters from SA. Ed Whitacre retired, there was minor speculation about what that might mean, and then one day... Boom! AT&T announced it was leaving.

I never implied it was at the same caliber. My point was, many said SA wouldn't land the Toyota for various reasons. The same nay sayers from then are back.

There's no reason why SA shouldn't persue Amazon. I'd rather hear Amazon say no to SA, than for the city to sit on the sidelines.

[L210]

I don't see why San Antonio shouldn't at least try. If you don't try, you have a 0% chance of getting anything.

[Remington Steel]

Originally Posted by L210

I don't see why San Antonio shouldn't at least try. If you don't try, you have a 0% chance of getting anything.

It may be too late to register to be in the running at this point. Looking at the list, I don't think SA would stand a chance compared to the amenities/infrastructures of the other cities. Kinda like getting an NFL team, if we (SA) would've committed to developing certain infrastructures early on, we probably could've had a chance.

Maybe 20 or so years down the road, I would like to see SA combine economic interests by teaming up with Austin (becoming a twin city metropolis), eventually closing up that 80 mile gap with companies, sports arenas, shopping, amusement parks, housing, etc.

[rynetwo]

While not nearly of scale we just got the Hulu headquarters for their new spinoff. It's not like we are McAllen going after this. (I have no problem with McAllen)

[StealthRabbit]

Plenty of benefit to SA, just might not be a fit for Bezos.

lack of Transit, and availability of a continuous flow of skilled tech workforce will be negatives.

But SA is an excellent opportunity for the right companies.

Community / Economic Development folks are usually too narrow minded and 'marketing centric' thinking they can 'entice' businesses. While this is important (to some), it is not the DEAL BREAKER that lack of infrastructure / employees / available growth opportunities will be.

Red Carpet Economic Development presentations are nauseous events to sit through, when you are purposed on re-siting a factory / bringing thousands of jobs.

[GEM-Texas]

I agree that the educational base is a problem, sadly. Neither of the big schools will produce what they might need for quite awhile. The airport and its connections are trivial. Having execs having to run through Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, etc. every time they want to go somewhere is a royal pain.

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by rynetwo

While not nearly of scale we just got the Hulu headquarters for their new spinoff. It's not like we are McAllen going after this. (I have no problem with McAllen)

That looks like customer service related work, right?

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by GEM-Texas

I agree that the educational base is a problem, sadly. Neither of the big schools will produce what they might need for quite awhile. The airport and its connections are trivial. Having execs having to run through Atlanta, Dallas, Chicago, etc. every time they want to go somewhere is a royal pain.

Most sizeable companies have their own private corporate jets, and lease hangar space at an airport near their HQ. Their execs aren't standing in TSA lines, dealing with scanners and searches when traveling on business. AT&T is an example of a company that leased a hangar at San Antonio International when their HQ was here. The lack of non-stop direct flights isn't really an issue for executive corporate travel in that situation.


Now, if you're talking about lower-level staffers that have to travel on business, that could be another matter, especially where executives are wanting to minimize inconveniences to their lesser-ranking employees as much as possible.

[flashfearless]

The SATX airport is a joke and so small of an operation. Austin airport is nicer too! Hell, even Nashville airport is nicer. It's amazing to me that such a small airport services an area this big.