Amazon: The Thread | 5,000 Jobs | 1M SQFT in Nashville Yards

[BnaBreaker]

If this resolution passes does it have any affect on Amazon and AB coming here? 

[MLBrumby]

Pure backyard politics. So the morons can brag to their neighbors when they run for reelection. 

[PaulChinetti]

Ass covering. See see I voted to get you a raise!

[Jamie Hall]

I'm truly more concerned with the reactions by Amazon, AB, etc., if the state legislature passes some of the anti-LGBT bills being moved through right now. I can't imagine those types of companies will be excited to move to a state that has a new transgender bathroom bill, anti-gay adoption bills, etc. North Carolina got all sorts of business and corporate blowback when they went this route a few years ago -- I don't understand Tennessee's obsession with working against its own best interests with Amazon and these huge corporations ready to move in.

[nashvylle]

18 minutes ago, Jamie Hall said:

I'm truly more concerned with the reactions by Amazon, AB, etc., if the state legislature passes some of the anti-LGBT bills being moved through right now. I can't imagine those types of companies will be excited to move to a state that has a new transgender bathroom bill, anti-gay adoption bills, etc. North Carolina got all sorts of business and corporate blowback when they went this route a few years ago -- I don't understand Tennessee's obsession with working against its own best interests with Amazon and these huge corporations ready to move in.

Do you know when the votes on these will happen?

[Jamie Hall]

4 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

Do you know when the votes on these will happen?

In the next several days, most likely. According to The Tennessean today, Alliance Bernstein has publicly come out strongly against the bills, so maybe that will lead to some thoughtful reflection among our esteemed legislators. I haven't seen public reaction yet by Amazon, but I can't imagine it would be much different than that from AB. I would absolutely hate to come this far with Amazon and have them pull a NYC-style retreat because of politics.

[Pdt2f]

26 minutes ago, Jamie Hall said:

I'm truly more concerned with the reactions by Amazon, AB, etc., if the state legislature passes some of the anti-LGBT bills being moved through right now. I can't imagine those types of companies will be excited to move to a state that has a new transgender bathroom bill, anti-gay adoption bills, etc. North Carolina got all sorts of business and corporate blowback when they went this route a few years ago -- I don't understand Tennessee's obsession with working against its own best interests with Amazon and these huge corporations ready to move in.

Perhaps they’re not thinking of economic and population growth as reasons to contradict their deeply held beliefs and those of the people who elected them. Luckily for democracy, all policy isn’t decided by corporate HR departments yet. 

[Armacing]

On ‎2‎/‎23‎/‎2019 at 7:18 PM, henburg said:

 my frustrations with what the free market has become in the pursuit to entice business growth.

Maybe this will help you focus your frustration more effectively:  Governments offering incentives to businesses is not free market.  That's socialism.  Government determining where investments should be made with money extracted from the tax-paying public:  That's central planning and it almost always results in a return-on-investment that is inferior to what the real free market can achieve.  We can dive into this more thoroughly in another thread if you want, but I just wanted to set you on the right course so you don't go blaming the free market for what are really the evils of socialism.

[WebberThomas4]

39 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

Do you know when the votes on these will happen?

It has a high “fiscal note” (state estimate of how much a bill will cost) which can often mean it will fail. This same bill was brought up in 2016 (maybe?) and failed then. 

[titanhog]

7 minutes ago, WebberThomas4 said:

It has a high “fiscal note” (state estimate of how much a bill will cost) which can often mean it will fail. This same bill was brought up in 2016 (maybe?) and failed then. 

Yeah...I bet this is just a bill that's being brought up by some of these politicians in the rural counties who are trying to impress their constituents and stay in office.  These kind of bills get brought forward all the time from all sides of the political aisles...many with no chance of actually becoming law.

Edited March 5, 2019 by titanhog

[PruneTracy]

1 hour ago, Jamie Hall said:

I'm truly more concerned with the reactions by Amazon, AB, etc., if the state legislature passes some of the anti-LGBT bills being moved through right now. I can't imagine those types of companies will be excited to move to a state that has a new transgender bathroom bill, anti-gay adoption bills, etc. North Carolina got all sorts of business and corporate blowback when they went this route a few years ago -- I don't understand Tennessee's obsession with working against its own best interests with Amazon and these huge corporations ready to move in.

I have a hard time believing Amazon would pull out.

It's not a secret that Tennessee is a deep red state, these bills or similar ones are proposed every year and seldom make it to the floor. Amazon knew or should have known this was a possibility from the beginning of the HQ2 process. But they didn't make politics a factor, they were just looking for the most cost-effective handouts.

NYC is one of the most reliably progressive urban centers in the nation and Amazon scrapped their plans there because the ROI was rapidly vanishing.

These corporations are going to talk the talk as long as it's good for their marketing but at the end of the day it's about making money and protecting their shareholders. If Nashville remains a good financial fit for Amazon they're going to stick around regardless of the state's politics.

[DDIG]

2 minutes ago, PruneTracy said:

I have a hard time believing Amazon would pull out.

It's not a secret that Tennessee is a deep red state, these bills or similar ones are proposed every year and seldom make it to the floor. Amazon knew or should have known this was a possibility from the beginning of the HQ2 process. But they didn't make politics a factor, they were just looking for the most cost-effective handouts.

NYC is one of the most reliably progressive urban centers in the nation and Amazon scrapped their plans there because the ROI was rapidly vanishing.

These corporations are going to talk the talk as long as it's good for their marketing but at the end of the day it's about making money and protecting their shareholders. If Nashville remains a good financial fit for Amazon they're going to stick around regardless of the state's politics.

Yeah that's the rub. This is nothing new. Our legislature tries to pass crazy sh*t every year. Luckily a lot of it is unconstitutional and most of it gets defeated, but most every session is hold on to your seat and hope they don't harm our business climate with pointless social legislation. Certainly that reality came up in due diligence. 

[Dale]

2 hours ago, Jamie Hall said:

I'm truly more concerned with the reactions by Amazon, AB, etc., if the state legislature passes some of the anti-LGBT bills being moved through right now. I can't imagine those types of companies will be excited to move to a state that has a new transgender bathroom bill, anti-gay adoption bills, etc. North Carolina got all sorts of business and corporate blowback when they went this route a few years ago -- I don't understand Tennessee's obsession with working against its own best interests with Amazon and these huge corporations ready to move in.

What are these “anti-LGBT bills” ?  In what way do they target or seek to harm homosexuals ?

[PaulChinetti]

12 minutes ago, Dale said:

What are these “anti-LGBT bills” ?  In what way do they target or seek to harm homosexuals ?

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/us/tennessee-lgbt-bills-trnd/index.html

 A run down of all of them. 

[Dale]

18 minutes ago, PaulChinetti said:

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/us/tennessee-lgbt-bills-trnd/index.html

 A run down of all of them. 

Thanks for that. The opprobrium of the world came down on NC, in no small part because we wouldn’t let men who think they’re women use just any women’s restrooms they wanted. All manner of celebrities and businesses boycotted the state. Dark days were prognosticated for the state. 

The boycotts barely moved the dial. Growth continued unabated.

To echo another poster, Amazon had to know it was moving to a fiery red state.

 

[nashvylle]

Just now, Dale said:

Thanks for that. The opprobrium of the world came down on NC, in no small part because we wouldn’t let men who think they’re women use just any women’s restrooms they wanted. All manner of celebrities and businesses boycotted the state. Dark days were prognosticated for the state. 

The boycotts barely moved the dial. Growth continued unabated.

To echo another poster, Amazon had to know it was moving to a fiery red state.

 

North Carolina lost nearly half a billion in revenue (I think I read). 

North Carolina also didn’t have amazon, Oracle, alliance Bernstein on the way.

[Dale]

2 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

North Carolina lost nearly half a billion in revenue (I think I read). 

North Carolina also didn’t have amazon, Oracle, alliance Bernstein on the way.

 

3 minutes ago, nashvylle said:

North Carolina lost nearly half a billion in revenue (I think I read). 

North Carolina also didn’t have amazon, Oracle, alliance Bernstein on the way.

Some wanted us to believe that we lost a half-billion out of a half-trillion. But economic growth exceeded the rosiest projections. Of course some ordinary North Carolinians were hurt by the low-cost corporate virtue-signaling. And the corporations returned after a faux repeal. With the very same restrictions in place, we’ve recently gained a couple of Fortune 150 companies

[UTgrad09]

5 minutes ago, Dale said:

 

Some wanted us to believe that we lost a half-billion out of a half-trillion. But economic growth exceeded the rosiest projections. Of course some ordinary North Carolinians were hurt by the low-cost corporate virtue-signaling. And the corporations returned after a faux repeal. With the very same restrictions in place, we’ve recently gained a couple of Fortune 150 companies

I'm not one who is looking to appease corporate HR politics, or whatever the flavor of the week is in Hollywood...but let's be honest, most of these bills are garbage, and a waste of time and taxpayer money, either because they are immediately considered unconstitutional, or address a phantom problem that really doesn't exist, or is so insignificant, it doesn't require legislation. 

So whether or not it will affect AB or Amazon or any other corporate relocation, I would rather we just not waste our time on useless nonsense bills that only attract negative attention and help no one.

[BnaBreaker]

4 hours ago, Pdt2f said:

Perhaps they’re not thinking of economic and population growth as reasons to contradict their deeply held beliefs and those of the people who elected them. Luckily for democracy, all policy isn’t decided by corporate HR departments yet. 

Nor should it be.  I agree.  However, I also don't think a state representative should be putting hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars of economic development and thousands upon thousands of well paying jobs at risk for their state just because they feel their job security is dependent on  politically grandstanding for a tiny group of their constituents who are distracted from the bigger picture by irrelevant pet issues from the past that have already been legally settled.  

Edited March 6, 2019 by BnaBreaker

[Dale]

21 minutes ago, UTgrad09 said:

I'm not one who is looking to appease corporate HR politics, or whatever the flavor of the week is in Hollywood...but let's be honest, most of these bills are garbage, and a waste of time and taxpayer money, either because they are immediately considered unconstitutional, or address a phantom problem that really doesn't exist, or is so insignificant, it doesn't require legislation. 

So whether or not it will affect AB or Amazon or any other corporate relocation, I would rather we just not waste our time on useless nonsense bills that only attract negative attention and help no one.

A Christian baker or two might beg to differ.

 

[KJHburg]

50 minutes ago, Dale said:

 

Some wanted us to believe that we lost a half-billion out of a half-trillion. But economic growth exceeded the rosiest projections. Of course some ordinary North Carolinians were hurt by the low-cost corporate virtue-signaling. And the corporations returned after a faux repeal. With the very same restrictions in place, we’ve recently gained a couple of Fortune 150 companies

while we lost some high profile events they all came back.   In fact the year this was enacted and the next year when it was later repealed we had a record tourism year and that has continued ever since.  

I liked it better when corporations kept their politics internal as they are consumers and customers of all companies with varying political views.  

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by KJHburg

[Dale]

4 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

while we lost some high profile events they all came back.   In fact the year this was enacted and the next year when it was later repealed we had a record tourism year and that has continued ever since.  

I liked it better when corporations kept their politics internal as they are consumers and customers of all companies with varying politic views.  

 

And wasn’t PayPal all bluster ? Did they expand anywhere ?

 

[KJHburg]

1 minute ago, Dale said:

And wasn’t PayPal all bluster ? Did they expand anywhere ?

 

Nope they never announced an expansion anywhere.

I think Amazon is committed to Nashville they need the workers and they need to not be so concentrated in one market which is Seattle Bellevue.  if they truly want to get into the grocery business that is a massive distribution network needed and that is the focus of this Nashville office.   Seattle was just shut down over a snowstorm recently not to mention they are in a huge earthquake seduction zone and have 2 volcanoes that could  blow anytime.   They need to spread their operations out and Nashville is key part of that as they proposed. 

 

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, BnaBreaker said:

Nor should it be.  I agree.  However, I also don't think a state representative should be putting hundreds of millions (billions?) of dollars of economic development and thousands upon thousands of well paying jobs at risk for their state just because they feel their job security is dependent on  politically grandstanding for a tiny group of their constituents who are distracted from the bigger picture by irrelevant pet issues from the past that have already been legally settled.  

Similar to what AOC did in NY?  I agree.  This kind of stuff is bad for cities / states...no matter left or right.

[UTgrad09]

2 hours ago, Dale said:

A Christian baker or two might beg to differ.

We're talking about the Tennessee Legislature, numb nuts. Stay on topic.

Nonsense bills go on both sides of the political spectrum. My point still stands. The government should not be proposing bills that address phantom issues.