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Amazon HQ2


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Apple by far would be my choice.  It is leading edge technology and their campus will start off small and grow much like their data center did in Maiden where the investment is close to  $1 Billion with all that is planned or underway there.  Since Apple loves suburban locations from what I have seen in Cupertino and in north Austin suburbs what not a better tenant to kick off the River District? 

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^ Negative Nellie chiming in:

Charlotte is a pretty decent place for Amazon thanks to our long-term specialization in logistics and ecommerce. 

Charlotte is a lousy place for Apple due to a profound lack of expertise in microelectronics and horrible connections to Asian suppliers of component parts. 

#nobodyaskedmebut

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58 minutes ago, JBS said:

Jealous of all the attention Amazon is getting.  Can Google be far behind?  Which leads me to this hypothetical:  if you could have any company establish a first or second HQ in CLT, who would you choose?  

Starbucks and as part of the deal they promise to fly their gay pride flag for at least a year (like they did in 2014). Just to drive the NCGA batcrap crazy.  ;-)

Seriously though I cannot see a major tech company coming here anytime soon.  I would love to see businesses involved in alternative energy move here. Diversification....

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From the press release of Apple and I do think Charlotte can handle this.  I am sure high level tech and new product research will remain in California or even in Austin.   Microsoft has a campus with about 1000 people in SW Charlotte doing exactly what Apple is saying they want to establish.  

""The company plans to establish an Apple campus in a new location, which will initially house technical support for customers. The location of this new facility will be announced later in the year.""

Not to mention more routine things like accounting, HR etc which Charlotte excels in..  It would make sense to move that out of California.  How much do you have to pay accounting and HR people to live in an area where the average home is $1 Million.  

Edited by KJHburg
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18 minutes ago, KJHburg said:

and NC is not letting some snow (even more in Raleigh than here) stop us for pursuing Apple.  The next great race begins in earnest 

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2018/01/17/n-c-economic-developers-make-initial-pitch-to-land.html?ana=e_trig_bn&u=oAaDx%2B74FoP4qOJ%2By4AU6dhJPpc&t=1516226616&j=79522421

Is it my imagination or is that article very Triangle orientated? I get its the Triangle Business Journal but it implies that NC Commerce is Triangle-biased. 

edit: it is even more apparent if you read the CLT Business Journal... 

Edited by CLT704
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^^^ Well now time to pursue Apple and other companies.   Why would Alliance Bernstein want to go to Nashville knowing there is a chance Amazon would go there and compete for employees?  (I dont think they are going there and still think Atlanta, Northern VA etc are the front runners)

Raleigh really? Interesting no one can say Charlotte was knocked off the list because of the state of NC.  

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I am disappointed only in the sense that I don't feel like Nashville/Raleigh are better choices than Charlotte.  I hope that doesn't signal a changing tide of Charlotte's perception.  Anybody know if Charlotte is recruiting any other companies currently?  Or more specifically, close to landing any other companies?

Edited by J-Rob
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It's crazy.....10 years ago, Charlotte was leaving Nashville in it's wake, and they were fretting about turning out like Birmingham....

Fast forward, and it's all about millennials, and it turns out they love live music, and being a banker is a social stigma.

Oddly, one event I would point to that is a hidden major event for Charlotte is Fukushima....since then, the nuclear industry has evaporated, just as Charlotte was emerging as the worldwide center of nuclear power engineering.

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^^ I would say Charlotte is recruiting many companies right now but most searches are done in top secret not like this circus Amazon has done.  Secrecy is very important to most companies relocating or even expanding operations.    Did anyone remember hearing about Allstate before they announced 2250 jobs last  year?  Not a peep in the media and this was the biggest single job announcement in Charlotte history!  I would if at the chamber go after Alliance Bernstein who has mentioned Charlotte and Nashville and San Antonio as expansion cities.  Alliance Bernstein is owned by AXA which itself expanded here last year or the year before with 500 new jobs.  

Here is the complete list of the top 20 for HQ2 but will be interesting to see who gets it. 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/amazon-narrows-list-for-hq2-to-20-metropolitan-areas-2018-01-18

 

Edited by KJHburg
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9 minutes ago, atlrvr said:

Finalist cities are out.  20 made the cut, not Charlotte.

Nashville, Austin, Raleigh, and Atlanta all finalists.

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=17044620011

 

 

3 minutes ago, J-Rob said:

I am disappointed only in the sense that I don't feel like Nashville/Raleigh are better choices than Charlotte.  I hope that doesn't signal a changing tide of Charlotte's perception.  Anybody know if Charlotte is recruiting any other companies currently?  Or more specifically, close to landing any other companies?

Regarding Raleigh is it possible they had a better financial package as payback to Charlotte from NCGA? Is this completely controlled by the state?  That said, unless they're just throwing way more money at Amazon, it is hard to imagine Raleigh or Nash beating out some of the other finalists.

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8 minutes ago, J-Rob said:

I am disappointed only in the sense that I don't feel like Nashville/Raleigh are better choices than Charlotte.  I hope that doesn't signal a changing tide of Charlotte's perception.  Anybody know if Charlotte is recruiting any other companies currently?  Or more specifically, close to landing any other companies?

Nashville has an "It" buzz to it that Charlotte doesn't have. Of course that doesn't explain why boring Raleigh made the cut.

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12 minutes ago, Dale said:

Nashville has an "It" buzz to it that Charlotte doesn't have. Of course that doesn't explain why boring Raleigh made the cut.

Amazon's biggest need with the new HQ is to attract and hire great tech talent.  They think they can get millennial/tech types to move to Nashville b/c it's cool and they think they can hire in RDU since there is a bigger tech presence  there already in addition to better universities relative to Charlotte.  It stinks because I think any millennial and/or tech types in RDU or at a college up there would move to CLT in a heartbeat to work for Amazon, so I don't think it's an actual advantage, but it's definitely a perceived advantage.  

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12 minutes ago, CLT2014 said:

Three locations in the Washington DC area, interesting!

I actually think and I said along Northern Virginia/suburban DC will get Amazon, especially the rapidly growing Tysons Corner area.  Obviously Raleigh is on the list because of RTP but I still think Raleigh is unlikely. 

Edited by cityboi
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16 minutes ago, Dale said:

Nashville has an "It" buzz to it that Charlotte doesn't have. Of course that doesn't explain why boring Raleigh made the cut.

Out of genuine curiosity, how would you describe that "it" factor?

The one thing I remember about my trip to Nashville was a ped alleyway of stores/bars that reminded me of that fourth ward converted mill with alley, and hearing music/karaoke from every single angle. Pretty awesome vibe on that street.

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