News
Documents Detail Ohio City’s Failed Courtship of Amazon HQ2
By: Associated Press
Posted on:
CINCINNATI (AP) – An Ohio River city wooing Amazon’s second headquarters had offered up urban cool and culture along with big-bucks incentives.
Cincinnati made a wide-ranging pitch for the Seattle-based e-commerce giant’s second North American headquarters. Newly released files offer a behind-the-scenes look of the hectic weeks after Amazon announced last year it was soliciting bids for a project expected to bring 50,000 jobs to the winner.
But they didn’t survive the January cut from 238 suitors to 20, with Amazon’s final decision ahead.
The package Cincinnati submitted along with Hamilton County and neighboring northern Kentucky included economic incentives estimated at $3.1 billion, and discounted parking for Amazon employees worth millions more. Officials proposed an “Amazon Prime” transportation line.
They also offered examples of Cincinnati’s urban “renaissance,” with arts, entertainment and heritage.