The Headquarter's Competition

        In the news today, it was announced that Amazon has narrowed the decision for where their new headquarter's will go to 20 cities. The competition started with a total of 238 cities in the running, and now includes the cities of:

1. Atlanta, GA 
2. Austin, TX
3. Boston, MA
4. Chicago, IL
5. Columbus, OH
6. Dallas, TX
7. Denver, CO
8. Indianapolis, IN
9. Los Angeles, CA
10. Miami, FL
11. Montgomery County, MD
12. Nashville, TN
13. Newark, NJ
14. New York City, NY
15. Northern Virginia, VA 
16. Philadelphia, PA
17. Pittsburgh, PA 
18. Raleigh, NC 
19. Toronto, ON
20. Washington, D.C. 

This new facility will employ 50,000 people, and each of the cities had certain criteria they needed to meet before they could be considered a possibility. They needed to have over 1 million people, and have a major transit system, like a Subway, and a high skill labor pool. The criteria they have set really backs their value proposition. Amazon is all about being fast, efficient, and convenient. The transit system helps with the convenience of it all. The employees will always have a convenient way to get to work even if they don't have a car. The high skill labor pool helps with the efficiency and quickness of the company. If they have employees who know what they're doing, they'll do it fast.   

If people living in the town where the new headquarters is going don't know about Amazon, or what it does, they will now. This is marketing to the people who have never ordered from Amazon. They'll see the building, wonder what it is and look it up. Next thing we know, they're ordering from Amazon. 

With every action comes a reaction, and social media is where the reactions to this are. 

A lot of the responses include what Amazon should give to employees and the residents of the communities they're putting the new HQ in. Things like free Prime, healthcare, and subway passes. Other responses include people being bummed about their city making it to the finals, or in some cases, not making it. There's a large amount of people who are excited about the headquarters possibly being where they live, and there's also a large amount of people who do not want it to happen in their city. 

All in all, I don't believe Amazon owes anything to the community they're moving in to. It's just like any other business moving in there, and I don't think it's a huge deal. They should give perks to their employees like free prime, and transit passes. Some good benefits will lead good people to work for good company's. 

This is a huge thing for Amazon, and any of these cities would be a good option for them. I am excited to see what they end up choosing!

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