Amazon named Philadelphia on a list of 20 locations under consideration for its second headquarters. Wilmington did not make the list.
“Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough ““ all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” said Holly Sullivan, of Amazon public policy. “Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”
Amazon HQ2 will be a complete headquarters, not a satellite office. The company plans to invest over $5 billion and grow the headquarters to accommodate as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs, according to the Amazon website.
In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in investment in the surrounding community.
Amazon, which has a 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Middletown, said it hopes to open the second headquarters in a suburban or urban area with more than one million people.
Delaware tossed its hat in the ring for consideration last October, proposing three locations in New Castle County, including First State Crossing in Claymont, the Riverfront in Wilmington, and a location on Concord Pike.
Amazon evaluated each of the proposals based on the criteria outlined in the RFP to create the list of 20 HQ2 candidates, according to a press release that named the finalists.
The cities that made the list include: Atlanta, GA; Austin, TX; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Indianapolis, IN; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Montgomery County, MD; Nashville, TN; Newark, NJ; New York City, NY; Northern Virginia, VA; Philadelpia, PA; Pittsburgh, PA; Raleigh, NC; Toronto, ON; and Washington D.C.
Amazon expects to make a decision in 2018, according to officials.
