The Triad’s long-shot bid for Amazon’s second North American headquarters is on its way to Seattle.
The overnight delivery package — meeting Thursday’s submission deadline — includes a video, summary proposal and several pamphlets. A separate interactive presentation was sent by e-mail.
Site-selection experts and economists project the odds of the Triad area winning the coveted $5 billion project, which Amazon is calling HQ2, as very slim.
That’s based primarily on the e-retail giant’s criteria for the new site, which, among other things, call for a metropolitan area of at least 1 million residents, a stable business climate for growth, an international airport within 45 minutes of its campus and a highly educated local workforce from which to draw employees.
The #TriadisPrime Amazon pitch represents perhaps the largest collaborative recruitment effort by the Triad’s four economic-development groups: Piedmont Triad Partnership, Winston-Salem Business Inc., High Point Economic Development Corp. and Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.
The groups said they proposed six sites to Amazon. Although they declined to publicly disclose the sites, they include “both downtown settings, as well as potential campus locations for HQ2,” according to Loren Hill, the president of the High Point Economic Development Corp.
Amazon has indicated that HQ2 would initially require 500,000 square feet of office space, but that is expected to expand to 8 million square feet divided among three buildings.
The outside of the package containing the Triad’s proposal features signatures from local residents, who are described as “representing people from every industry, background and walk of life, eager to bring Amazon home to the Triad.”
“Before Amazon developers write a single line of code, they have to write a hypothetical product’s news release,” the groups said. “Following Amazon’s way of doing business, the Triad’s summary pitch was written as a news release announcing that Amazon has chosen the Triad for HQ2.”
Robert Leak Jr., the president of Winston-Salem Business Inc., said the groups believe “this news release format will resonate with the company and help us to stand out in a crowded field.”
The 39-second video showcases quality of life in the Triad and includes brief comments from the mayor or mayor pro tem from each city.
The video can be found at https://youtu.be/QD5v ZNWAdiE. Information is also available at www.triadisprime.com, which requires an Amazon login to access.
The economic-development groups tailored the Triad’s pitch around the region’s diversity, focusing on geography, educational institutions, industry sectors, workforce and population, international visitors and companies, and culture and leisure activities.
Although Stan Kelly, the president of the Piedmont Triad Partnership, said the groups used some of the community-suggested ideason how to attract Amazon, those ideas weren’t listed in their joint statement.
The economic developers also asked Triad residents to take their appeal to Alexa, the voice of the Amazon app that helps consumers connect and use Amazon devices and products.
On Sept. 9, The New York Times published an analysis of major cities and their chances of landing HQ2, whittling down the field based on Amazon’s detailed guidance. Raleigh emerged as one of nine finalists, only to lose out to Denver, which finished first. Raleigh’s Achilles’ heel in that review appeared to be the challenges of getting in, out and around the city, particularly as it relates to public transportation.
Amazon operates out of a 325,000-square-foot distribution center in Research Triangle Park, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh. It has a similar operation in Charlotte.
Bloomberg News’ analysis lists the favorites as Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Toronto and Washington.
Amazon has said the average wage of the 50,000 employees at the second headquarters would approach $100,000 a year.
By comparison, Amazon estimates its investments in Seattle from 2010 through 2016 added $38 billion to the city’s economy. More than 40,000 of its 380,000 employees are based in Seattle.
Amazon hasn’t said how much emphasis it will put on incentives, but it is likely to request something similar to the $3 billion the Wisconsin legislature is planning to offer electronics giant Foxconn Technology Group for a $10 billion flat-screen production plant employing up to 13,000 people.
At that level, Taiwan-based Foxconn would receive the largest state incentive package for a foreign company in U.S. history.
Amazon said it expects incentive packages that include land, site preparation, tax credits and exemptions, relocation grants, workforce grants, utility incentives and grants, permitting, and fee reductions.
“We now await the next steps and stand ready for a site visit from Amazon,” the Piedmont Triad Partnership’s Kelly said.
rcraver@wsjournal.com 336-727-7376 @rcraverWSJ
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