Mayors woo Amazon with sun, fun ... and giant buttons
BOSTON — Mayors from Toledo to Tulsa are so eager to woo Amazon’s much-vaunted second headquarters that they’re brandishing bourbon, selling the sun, whispering sweet nothings to the company and even pushing its buttons. Literally. The Associated Press talked to the leaders of more than 50 cities or metropolitan regions about the different ways they’re showcasing themselves to the Seattle e-commerce company. The bids are due Thursday.
Sunny days
It’s easy for many metropolitan areas to emphasize their similarities to Seattle. It’s a little gutsier for cities to cast themselves as an escape from the rainy Pacific Northwest.
“We have 300 days of sunshine,” says J.J. Ament, chief executive officer of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. “Our skies are bluer and prettier.” Ament’s organization is compiling a formal bid that also highlights Colorado’s 45,000 miles of hiking, biking and all-purpose trails.
Austin, coincidentally enough, also touts 300 sunny days and outdoor activities — plus live music, festivals, sports and a “big foodie-friendly community,” says Mike Berman, a spokesman for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.
But wait: Albuquerque, New Mexico, has upped the ante with a claimed 310 cloudless days. (The city also makes a naked plea to sentiment, noting that it’s the birthplace of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.)
Flirty Tweets
Many cities are flirting with the idea of landing Amazon’s new headquarters. One Alabama city is REALLY flirting.
“Amazon, we got a 100% match on Bumble. Wanna go on a date?” Birmingham asks the company in one of hundreds of Tweets it has sent the company.
The city even set up giant replicas of Amazon’s Dash Buttons — those dangerous order-a-product-with-a-singlepress gizmos — to send one of more than 600 pre-generated tweets to the company.
“We are Chipotle and these other cities are Taco Bell, Amazon,” one said.
Happy happy hour
Bars, pubs, taverns, wine bars. Many cities insist they’ve got the best options for Amazon happy hour (assuming that local alcohol laws allow it).
“We have 348 breweries in Colorado, second only to California,” says Denver’s Ament. “That’s six per 100,000 residents.”
Louisville is playing up its role as the gateway to Kentucky bourbon country. Even the farthest-flung locales lay claim to a vibrant nightlife.
“Lots of bars and restaurants, plays, lots of music,” says Mike Savage, mayor of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The city, one of several in Canada making a bid, once billed itself as “the next Seattle” based on its 1990s grunge scene.
Hot (and hip) or not
Looking for hot and hip? “Providence is particularly hot and hip,” says Rhode Island Commerce Secretary Stefan Pryor, who led efforts to craft a pitch for the country’s smallest state. “Our capital city was identified by GQ, Gentleman’s Quarterly magazine, as the coolest city in America.” (This is true .)
Touting diversity
Most bidders are highlighting their city’s diversity and openness. At least two — Philadelphia and St. Petersburg, Florida — are touting a perfect LGBT equality score of 100 from an advocacy group’s municipal index.
Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi argues that Canada is the logical choice if Amazon is “really interested in recruiting an international workforce of 50,000,” given nativist sentiment in the U.S.