After sorting through 238 proposals for the location of its second headquarters (HQ2), Amazon released a list of the 20 metro areas still in the running today. Minnesota did not make the cut.
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said early on that the state would issue a "restrained" bid for HQ2. The state offered just a few million dollars in economic incentives, while places like Newark, New Jersey offered several billion.
Minnesota's proposal, which included more than a dozen locations across the Twin Cities, was submitted by Greater MSP. The organization has not released specific details about what was included in its Amazon proposal.
Three Midwestern cities (Chicago, Columbus and Indianapolis) are still in the running.
Even without Amazon's second headquarters, the company still has a strong presence in the Twin Cities. In addition to a large fulfillment center in Shakopee, Amazon has an office in Minneapolis' North Loop that employs around 100 people, and could potentially fit up to 400. The Business Journal's Kathy Grayson reports that this local office is working on a number of projects in B2B and transportation tech.
My running list of what Amazon is working on at its Minneapolis office pic.twitter.com/qO6oIoRyrW
— Kathy Grayson (@mspbjGrayson) January 18, 2018
In a release, the e-commerce giant said Thursday that it will work with each of the finalists to "dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership." The company estimates that its second headquarters would include a $5 billion investment and as many as 50,000 jobs. Amazon expects to make a decision by the end of the year.
Here are the 20 cities still in the running for HQ2:
- Atlanta
- Austin, TX
- Boston
- Chicago
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas
- Denver
- Indianapolis
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Montgomery County, MD.
- Nashville
- Newark, NJ
- New York City
- Northern Virginia
- Philadelphia
- Raleigh, NC
- Toronto
- Washington D.C.
