Kansas City did not make the short list to be home to Amazon’s second headquarters.
The $5 billion project, known as HQ2, will bring 50,000 high paying jobs to the chosen city.
“Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals. Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough — all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity,” said Holly Sullivan, Amazon Public Policy.
The cities still in the running:
- Austin, TX
- Boston, MA
- Chicago, IL
- Columbus, OH
- Dallas, TX
- Denver, CO
- Indianapolis, IN
- Los Angeles, CA
- Miami, FL
- Montgomery County, MD
- Nashville, TN
- Newark, NJ
- New York City, NY
- Northern Virginia, VA
- Philadelphia, PA
- Pittsburgh, PA
- Raleigh, NC
- Toronto, ON
- Washington D.C.
Amazon plans to make a decision on the location in 2018.
Meanwhile, Kansas City officials suggested there were lessons to be garnered from the city's failure to make Amazon's list.
Councilman Quinton Lucas pointed out many of the cities that made the short list--including Atlanta, Boston, and Columbus, Ohio--are home to major universities and have deep connections to those schools.
"Actually, in a lot of these places, they were able to say we not only have the workforce to meet Amazon's demands, but we're also training the workforce to meet Amazon's demands. And that, I think, is going to be a big step," he said.
Lucas said he wants Kansas City to do a better job building partnerships with local universities, including UMKC, Park University, and the University of Kansas.
City Manager Troy Schulte through the city's Twitter account said that the experience of submitting a bid was good for the city.
From @KCMOManager: Kansas City’s Amazon bid was a great team effort, and showed how leaders across the metro can come together to work on important projects like this. It was a creative bid, and we will continue to be aggressive in pursuing these opportunities for KCMO. (1/2)
— Kansas City, MO (@KCMO) January 18, 2018
Via @KCMOManager: The national publicity for Kansas City generated by (the Amazon bid) competition shared news about our city’s momentum and economic growth. (2/2)
— Kansas City, MO (@KCMO) January 18, 2018
Maria Carter is news director at KCUR 89.3
