Valley's hat tossed into the ring for second Amazon headquarters
The Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber is tossing the Valley into the running to house the second headquarters for Amazon.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - The Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber is tossing the Valley into the running to house the second headquarters for Amazon.
Earlier this month, Amazon opened up a competitive selection process to let cities across the nation apply to become Amazon's next home.
The project is a second corporate headquarters (HQ2), Amazon says they are expecting to hire as many as fifty thousand new full-time employees with an average annual total income of more than $100,000 over the next ten to fifteen years.
Amazon’s current headquarters is located in downtown Seattle, Washington.
Now, the Youngstown Warren Regional Chamber has submitted a "request for Proposal" asking Amazon to consider the Valley as its new home.
Amazon said they were specifically looking for communities that house more than a million people, have a business-friendly environment, attract strong technical talent, and could think creatively for viable real estate options, while not negatively affecting the preferred timeline.
James Dignan, the Chief Operating Officer of the Chamber, says that in essence, Amazon is looking for something very similar to what they have already in Seattle.
"Something like this would literally transform our community overnight," said Dignan "To bring in that level of commitment, and that level of building, and that level of employment to this area would be truly amazing."
"We want them to know that if they were to afford an opportunity like this for the Mahoning Valley or stretch it between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, we're a hub in place in Youngstown. We could make it work; we have the available workforce, we have the available land, and we have the low cost of living, and we have the ready and willing workforce," Dignan continued.
Dignan says that now that Amazon has four distribution sites across Ohio, it makes sense to bring HQ2 to the Buckeye State.
Amazon showed particular interest in universities, relevant technology degrees, and information on K-12 programs with STEM focuses.
In addition, the proposal submission asks for information on institutes or organizations that focus on businesses and technology, such as the Youngstown Business Incubator.
The Regional Chamber office is working with Team NEO and JobsOHIO on the proposal, and on attracting Amazon to the Valley.
No specific site has been offered as a potential site for the new headquarters. Amazon says it is looking for a location that could potentially house an entire campus of potentially 8,000,000 square feet, those facilities and buildings could potentially mean a $5 billion investment from Amazon.
While Dignan admits that Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley will come up against some challenges from other proposals, he says half the battle is getting our name out there.
"We want to make sure we're part of the conversation. We want them to know that we have a willingness to work with whoever might be looking for opportunities like this. If it's not Amazon then it's the next one,"says Dignan. "We want to make sure that they understand that the Mahoning Valley is here and were open for business and we have the capacity to do what they need, whether it's manufacturing or in high-tech. We have the capacity to meet the needs of these employers."
