The NY Times and Vegas oddsmakers are lookimg very closely at the top 20 cities still in the running for Amazon's HQ2 (their second headquarters). Nashville is not a top choice by people in the know.
The big things Amazon is considering are things like:
- tax incentives
- a good workforce
- strong transportation hub
- a cultural/community fit
- community and quality of life
So you'd think we're right up there, right? we already have fulfillment centers here doing really well for many of the above reasons.
We have an exciting community that draws a hundred people here a day! Taxes are low and we drop our pants for most companies to come here. We are central with most interstates all interesting here (ugh). Culturally, ain't nobody got arts and entertainment like Nashville.
But the experts and Vegas have Northern Virginia as the odds on favorite to the HQ2 because it's close to Washington (Amazon chief Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post), is near tons of transportation, has really low taxes, and has a very educated workforce.
Where does Nashville rank in the odds?
12th.
Here's the list from most likely to get the headquarters to least likely.
Bovada has Northern Virginia as the favorite
Then it's...
Washington, D.C
Austin, Texas
Boston, Massachusetts
Toronto, Ontario
Atlanta, Georgia
Montgomery County, Maryland
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Raleigh, North Carolina
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Chicago, Illinois
AND THEN NASHVILLE.
NYC, New York
blah
blah
blah
Sure we're rooting for us to get it and all the jobs and billions of dollars they'll spend here. And we love buying stuff from Amazon (we're Prime-aholics). But if we don't get this, it'll be hard not to think of Jeff Bezos as Dr. evil.