Amazon Looking for a new HQ - Detroit-Windsor Bid Rejected

[emu steve]

FWIW:

https://www.bizjournals.com/washingt...prof-says.html

[iheartthed]

FWIW:

https://www.bizjournals.com/washingt...prof-says.html

I think it's Boston or Toronto.

[Richard]

I think it would be risky picking Toronto,it is a lot of people that got pissed off south of the border,I do not think it matters where his toothbrush is because he can just buy another house and toothbrush.He must have an ego the size of Texas by now.

It becomes a wild guess where they will land,I still think with the whole vehicle thing they want to get into,Detroit would be the most sensible and they could always import talent,outside of that my guess would be Phoenix.

But then again I cannot even get a winning lottery ticket so who knows,but I still think they already knew a year ago.

[iheartthed]

I predict Toronto because the process for getting visas for tech workers is way more simpler than the U.S. It would be an attractive option for foreign students educated in the U.S. who are worried about securing a H1B visa. And for U.S. workers the visa process to work in Canada would be simple.

I give Boston great odds because I have heard rumors that this is where the execs wanted it to go before they came up with this idea to open bidding to all cities, plus they already do a bit of work there with artificial intelligence. It would also be very easy to recruit talent with all of the schools in and round Boston. The only reason that I would have ever discounted Boston is cost of living, but CoL is obviously not an incredibly important criteria since the list of cities that made it to round 2 is saturated with high cost cities [[and many lower cost cities were eliminated).

[Richard]

Ha,so Canadians are dumb like Americans and have to import talent also.

What are all of our college kids doing,spending thousands of dollars to be in debt learning crochet? Or professional protesters.

I understand your point but most of the imported best talent I have seen was brought over to replace Americans at a cheaper salary,I am not buying the theory that our younger generation is that dumb.But then again there is that whole tide pod thing,so who knows.

What do people get degrees in anymore?

[bust]

Ha,so Canadians are dumb like Americans and have to import talent also.

What are all of our college kids doing,spending thousands of dollars to be in debt learning crochet? Or professional protesters.

I understand your point but most of the imported best talent I have seen was brought over to replace Americans at a cheaper salary,I am not buying the theory that our younger generation is that dumb. But then again there is that whole tide pod thing,so who knows.

What do people get degrees in anymore?

I agree the H1-B visa program has been abused by employers to hire talent cheaply. One of the incredibly rare things I agree with our current president about is I believe the minimum salary offered to the recipient of a H1-B visa should be raised sharply to more closely resemble what a comparably talented US citizen would expect. Then the program will be about recruiting talent, not cheap labor, and it won't come so much at the expense of American workers.

However one aspect some don't understand about Amazon's talent needs is they don't need many recent college graduates. They need people with professional experience. That the route to immigrate to Canada is much easier for talented professionals does give Toronto an edge in my opinion.

Not that I know anything, but if I were to guess what are the cities have the best chances, I'd say these, in alphabetic order:

Newark
Toronto
Washington DC

Philadelphia, though perhaps because it's my sentimental choice.

I'm not feeling Boston, but I guess maybe.

I'm not feeling Atlanta or Austin either, but they're way ahead of Indianapolis.

[emu steve]

Bust, I don't want to sound like a homer, but I'd take D.C. over Newark any day and twice on Sunday. I'm just not a fan of Newark or NYC. Personal preference.

Then they can debate the relative merits of TOR vs. D.C.

[Richard]

I agree the H1-B visa program has been abused by employers to hire talent cheaply. One of the incredibly rare things I agree with our current president about is I believe the minimum salary offered to the recipient of a H1-B visa should be raised sharply to more closely resemble what a comparably talented US citizen would expect. Then the program will be about recruiting talent, not cheap labor, and it won't come so much at the expense of American workers.

However one aspect some don't understand about Amazon's talent needs is they don't need many recent college graduates. They need people with professional experience. That the route to immigrate to Canada is much easier for talented professionals does give Toronto an edge in my opinion.

Not that I know anything, but if I were to guess what are the cities have the best chances, I'd say these, in alphabetic order:

Newark
Toronto
Washington DC

Philadelphia, though perhaps because it's my sentimental choice.

I'm not feeling Boston, but I guess maybe.

I'm not feeling Atlanta or Austin either, but they're way ahead of Indianapolis.

My thinking is Amazon is not looking to locate because of the Amazon we see today,they are going the Musk route and expanding into the self driving vehicles and drones for delivery.It is not an expansion of the online ordering system,more So research,engineering and implementation.

That is all new technology so who really has the years of experience to add to the bigger picture?

Serious questions.

I have an acquaintance that cannot fill or has a hard time filling positions for HAVAC techs that deal with the technology where the systems talk to each other in large skyscrapers and buildings,that pays like $48 per hour.

What irks me with the whole technology thing and more so Silicon Valley is that they would not even had existed if not for the taxpayers and the space program,we made them billions but yet they made no effort to return the favor in helping with advanced education for the very people that made them.

I remember back in the 1990s the call went out and everybody was told computers are the future so everybody went to IT ,and forgot about the poor guy that needed his car fixed,or electrical,plumbing etc.

We did a brain drain from the skills trades to the computers and now to advanced micro technologies.So did we lose 20 years in the education department?

[Bham1982]

I understand your point but most of the imported best talent I have seen was brought over to replace Americans at a cheaper salary,I am not buying the theory that our younger generation is that dumb.

It has nothing to do with "younger generations are dumb". The U.S. is a nation of immigrants and became the wealthiest and most powerful nation on earth specifically because of immigrants.

If you want this country to maintain its greatness, you have to allow the same immigrant churn that has defined this nation since its infancy. The U.S. has always attracted some of the world's best and brightest and hardest working folks.

Nativism leads to national demise. Germany turned nativist, its great scientists [[best in the world at the time) mostly moved to the U.S., and they were the basis for the U.S. developing the A-bomb before Germany.

Einstein and the like were Germans kicked out of their country in a bout of nationalistic fervor. Germans wanted to Make Germany Great Again.

[Wesley Mouch]

Bravo, B'Ham. We are thinking more alike every day.

[iheartthed]

I'm not feeling Boston, but I guess maybe.

Boston isn't where I'd want it to go, but they already eliminated the city I was rooting for.

I'd rather it go to Boston than Newark. Newark is one of the few affordable urban areas left in the New York Metro area. If they go there, it would displace a lot of poor people and leave them with no place to go.

[Richard]

Bravo, B'Ham. We are thinking more alike every day.

Well,if you have been following the bouncing ball,he would be shooting himself in the foot to have another view.

Sure they brought German nuke scientist over because they were already working on the program and had expirence,no different then the English and the jet engine,but they designed it then sent it to us and did not asked to be imported.

This is all new stuff,I would agree about the Germans and the mechanical ability,I am German heartige and that is my strong point,and even now they buy German cars and German made products before anything else.

They do have a tendency to put their fellow citizens before others.Now days anyways.

There is a community collage extension a couple of miles from me that is only for the atomunius [[yes I know I speld it wrong)
training,so we are training our youth and I will never buy that Americans do not have the brain power as a tool to expand immigration in order to undercut our own.

When we invest in our own we do not have to depend on others for excuses,except maybe for Chinese computers in our war ships.That must have been imported brain power that thought that one up.

It is a whole different country then 1920 when it comes to immigration,and some should be grateful that they made it under the wire,cough cough.

[emu steve]

Interesting article on the LGBT laws and finalists for HQ2.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/20/11-a...tion-laws.html

Interesting if Bezos will summarily exclude certain cities [[e.g., Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, etc.) because the 'redness' of their states.

Could help cities like NYC, D.C., etc. which are blue states. And, of course, D.C., is as blue as blue gets. It is its own city/'state' and the most homogeneous entity one will find in America. Think Trump got 11K votes in 2016, something like 4% of the vote [[will double check). Hell, even Putin's opponent this year will probably do much better than 4% in their election.

EDIT: D.C. was 93% Clinton, 4% Trump.

https://www.npr.org/2016/11/08/50092...for-each-state

[Richard]

I can imagine when Bezos is 95 and while in an interview he will be asked what was the deciding factor way back then.

His reply .... we hung a map of the United States on the wall and threw a dart.

[313WX]

Interesting article on the LGBT laws and finalists for HQ2.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/20/11-a...tion-laws.html

Interesting if Bezos will summarily exclude certain cities [[e.g., Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, etc.) because the 'redness' of their states.

Could help cities like NYC, D.C., etc. which are blue states. And, of course, D.C., is as blue as blue gets. It is its own city/'state' and the most homogeneous entity one will find in America. Think Trump got 11K votes in 2016, something like 4% of the vote [[will double check). Hell, even Putin's opponent this year will probably do much better than 4% in their election.

EDIT: D.C. was 93% Clinton, 4% Trump.

https://www.npr.org/2016/11/08/50092...for-each-state

There's another side to this.

Because of all of the transplants moving to GA / NC / TX from Chicago, Detroit and NYC, if Bezos wants to make a political decision, he could establish HQ2 in one of these states to help tip the scale further so that they become purple or blue within the next few election cycles.

BTW, Austin and Atlanta are easily two of the most socially liberal cities in the country, despite being surrounded by a sea of red [[Austin being a tech hub and Atlanta having a huge LGBT population).

[emu steve]

There's another side to this.

Because of all of the transplants moving to GA / NC / TX from Chicago, Detroit and NYC, if Bezos wants to make a political decision, he could establish HQ2 in one of these states to help tip the scale further so that they become purple or blue within the next few election cycles.

BTW, Austin and Atlanta are easily two of the most socially liberal cities in the country, despite being surrounded by a sea of red [[Austin being a tech hub and Atlanta having a huge LGBT population).

Agree completely.

Since I moved to NoVa [[Fairfax County) decades ago Virginia has moved from red to purple to now light blue.

There is no reason why Atlanta area / Georgia can't be like the D.C. suburbs / Virginia.

Texas would be a little tougher, but still possible.

Bezos, could as you suggest, if he doesn't pick a progressive state he could pick one which is moving in that direction and HQ2 would greatly further it.

[Gistok]

Anybody think this might hurt Atlanta's chances with snaring Amazon?

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/26/news...can/index.html

[emu steve]

Anybody think this might hurt Atlanta's chances with snaring Amazon?

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/26/news...can/index.html

I was out in driving and heard the story and had the same thoughts...

[emu steve]

Anybody think this might hurt Atlanta's chances with snaring Amazon?

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/26/news...can/index.html

CNN has another article:

http://money.cnn.com/2018/02/27/tech...nta/index.html

[emu steve]

Zillow has a survey suggesting 'too close to call' with a number of cities in a virtual dead heat.

https://www.bizjournals.com/washingt...-northern.html

[313WX]

Zillow has a survey suggesting 'too close to call' with a number of cities in a virtual dead heat.

https://www.bizjournals.com/washingt...-northern.html

If that is the same article I read yesterday, it was a tie between Atlanta and NoVA.

[Richard]

I wonder if those same ones laughed at a company saying they were going to start selling used books online.

My theroy is,if Amazon thought like they were expected to think,they would never be in the position that they are in.

[stasu1213]

Amazon hasn't came out with an official statement explaining why Detroit wasn't even considered to be put on their list. I wondering should Detroit concentrate on getting Amazon to open a much one floor office in downtown Detroit such as Microsoft and Google had

[stasu1213]

One disappointment that is being overlooked us the Detroit failed have one of Amazon's fulfillment centers to open within city limits. That would had produced jobs for Detroiters and some of the surrounding suburbs. The fulfillment centers were instead put in Duggans former stomping grounds, Livonia

[313WX]

Amazon hasn't came out with an official statement explaining why Detroit wasn't even considered to be put on their list. I wondering should Detroit concentrate on getting Amazon to open a much one floor office in downtown Detroit such as Microsoft and Google had

Earlier in the thread, we discussed that Amazon had a teleconference with the team who worked on thw bid and gave them a very generic response [[lack of talent).

But then after considering some of the other cities that made the cut, we all read between the lines and just assumed the real reason was because of Detroit's reputation and Amaxon gave the city/Michigan a big "f*** you!*