Amazon Announces 20 Cities on its ‘HQ2’ List, Prompting Economic Development Mania

SEATTLE, January 18, 2018 - Amazon announced the 20 finalists for its second headquarters, or HQ2, after a high-profile quest among economic development officials around North America.

The candidates include:

• Boston
• New York City
• Newark, New Jersey
• Pittsburgh
• Philadelphia
• Montgomery County, Maryland
• Washington, D.C.
• Raleigh
• Northern Virginia
• Atlanta
• Miami
• Toronto
• Columbus
• Indianapolis
• Chicago
• Denver
• Nashville
• Los Angeles
• Dallas
• Austin, Texas

The company wrote:

Amazon HQ2 will be Amazon’s second headquarters in North America. We expect to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow this second headquarters to include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs – it will be a full equal to our current campus in Seattle. 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 additional investment in the surrounding community.

See also: Amazon announces candidate cities for HQ2

(Photo of an Amazon distribution center in Madrid by Alvaro Ibanez used with permission.)