New Hampshire’s bid at wooing Amazon a bust

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Maybe Manchester isn’t ready for (Amazon) Prime Time, but we should be swinging for those development fences, said Chamber President Mike Skelton, before Londonderry was picked as NH’s target location.

CONCORD, NH – Let’s put it this way. If Amazon were using Tinder to find the perfect city match for it’s new HQ, New Hampshire’s been given the swipe.

Amazon announced on Thursday the 20 cities who had made the cut, gotten the red rose, survived to the next round, and Londonderry – despite Gov. Sununu’s bold and long-shot proposal – was not on the short list.

Manchester was a hometown favorite, but when the state’s proposal was drafted, it identified Londonderry, not the Queen City, as the perfect choice.

The 20 cities still in the running, out of 238 proposals:

  • Atlanta
  • Austin, Tex.
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Columbus, Ohio
  • Dallas
  • Denver
  • Indianapolis
  • Los Angeles
  • Miami
  • Montgomery County, Md.
  • Nashville
  • Newark
  • New York
  • Northern Virginia
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
  • Raleigh, N.C.
  • Toronto
  • Washington, D.C.

Governor Chris Sununu and Department of Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell issued the following statements, after the Granite State snub:

“New Hampshire’s groundbreaking proposal to recruit Amazon was the most comprehensive business marketing plan our State has ever produced,” said Governor Chris Sununu. “While we always knew that our bid was considered a long shot, we are excited that it is already serving as a template for other businesses that now have New Hampshire on their radar. Our commitment to economic and workforce development is already yielding results. We will never stop emphasizing that New Hampshire is open for business, open for workers, and open for opportunity.”

“We went through a collaborative process over the course of 5 weeks this fall to put together a brand new employer marketing strategy for Amazon, but the real value has been in putting that strategy to work on a daily basis with dozens of other companies,” said Commissioner Taylor Caswell. “The Amazon experience has given New Hampshire a national soapbox for our message about our enterprise freedom, our low tax/small government environment, our highly educated workforce, and our unbeatable quality of life. We will continue to take that message to companies every day, and I guarantee many of those companies will join those already here who understand the value of locating their businesses here in the strongest economy in the northeastern United States.”

Amazon detailed what’s next in the selection process. Because Boston made the cut, should Amazon choose the Bay State to invest in its glorious future, at least those willing to commute from New Hampshire could still benefit:

From Amazon’s corporate website:

“Amazon evaluated each of the proposals based on the criteria outlined in the RFP to create the list of 20 HQ2 candidates that will continue in the selection process. In the coming months, Amazon will work with each of the candidate locations to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate the company’s hiring plans as well as benefit its employees and the local community. Amazon expects to make a decision in 2018.

Amazon HQ2 will be a complete headquarters for Amazon, not a satellite office. The company plans to invest over $5 billion and grow this second headquarters to accommodate as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. 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.”

 

 

About this Author

Carol Robidoux

PublisherManchester Ink Link

Longtime NH journalist and publisher of ManchesterInkLink.com. Loves R&B, German beer, and the Queen City!