Amazon names 20 finalists in search for new headquarters

SEATTLE — Amazon on Thursday narrowed the field in its search for a second headquarters city, plucking 20 finalists from among the 238 proposals the retail giant received in October.

The list included several cities widely seen as favorites, including Atlanta, Austin, Texas, and Boston.

Also included in Amazon’s shortlist were dark horse candidates including Nashville and Montgomery County, Maryland.

The company has said it plans to make a final decision on its so-called HQ2 sometime this year, and could occupy the first portion of a new campus as soon as 2019.

Amazon surprised the world, and its hometown of Seattle, in September when it announced it was looking for a second headquarters city somewhere in North America, which Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said would be a “full equal” to its massive existing campus. The online retail giant said it could spend $5 billion, and hire as many as 50,000 employees, at the new campus over an up to 17-year build out.

Many observers viewed Amazon’s search as a sign that the company’s ambitions had outgrown Seattle, and would most likely seek a different labor force outside the Pacific Northwest. But a handful of municipalities in the area, including Tacoma, Spokane, Portland, and a consortium of King and Snohomish County cities, raised their hands anyway. None made it through the first round of cuts; Los Angeles is the only West Coast representative.