There are more questions than answers about what happens next for Amazon’s HQ2. Amazon decided to split HQ2 into essentially two parts. One in Northern Virginia, which is moving along as planned and the other in New York. Amazon also decided in November, independent of HQ2 to build out operations in Nashville, another of the 20 finalists for HQ2. So, where does Florida stand? Here are a few possibilities. One, Amazon decides to build out the entire HQ2 in Northern Virginia. Two, they decide to use its entrance into Nashville as it’s HQ2 destination. Three, Amazon chooses a new citythat was previouslyunder consideration.
According to Amazon, the final determining factor for choosing New York and Northern Virginia once the economics had been agreed upon was,“We looked at what our employees want, and where they would want to live”. If that still matters, you have to like our chances in South Florida. As a reminder, the Beacon Council worked with cities across South Florida proposing potential sites from West Palm Beach to Miami. The New York plan included 25,000 jobs at an average annual salary of $150,000.
That’s $3.75 billion in new income per year. Imagine the economic boost to our already strong economy. There’s a lot on the line. New York blew it. Maybe we should do the opposite of what New Yorkers did and start a campaign to welcome Amazon to South Florida.
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