Documents detail failed wooing of Amazon HQ2

Cincinnati offered urban cool and culture along with big-bucks incentives. But it wasn’t enough.

CINCINNATI » An Ohio River city wooing Amazon’s second headquarters offered urban cool and culture along with big-bucks incentives.

Cincinnati made a wideranging pitch for the Seattle-based e-commerce giant’s second North American headquarters. Newly released files offer a behindthe-scenes look at the hectic weeks after Amazon announced last year it was soliciting bids for a project expected to bring 50,000 jobs to the winner.

Amid hundreds of documents, emails, meeting notes, spreadsheets and graphics as they put together their official pitch, officials often described the potential importance of landing the $5 billion “mega-project,” with one set of proposed messaging themes discussing plans to “give Amazon a glimpse into our soul” while proving that the Midwest city was cool and “hip enough.”

Among the top 10 selling points from Mayor John Cranley was: “We Are Fun.” Notes written by a Cincinnati publicist in the margins of another proposal suggested citing “trendy, edgier” arts attractions. The files were obtained by The Associated Press through public records requests. Cincinnati didn’t survive Amazon’s January cut from 238 suitors to 20, with the final choice expected later this year. Amazon recently said not enough tech talent locally was a key reason, followed by transportation infrastructure.