Amazon has narrowed the list of potential cities where it will build its hotly anticipated second headquarters to 20 cities, the e-commerce giant said Thursday, with major metropolises like New York, Atlanta and Philadelphia in the running along with smaller cities like Nashville and Pittsburgh.
The Seattle-based company has grown to employ more 40,000 people, boosting the city’s economy since Jeff Bezos founded it in 1994. More than 200 North American cities submitted applications to host its second headquarters, eager for the investment and jobs that would come with what’s being called HQ2.
“We expect to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow this second headquarters to include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs — it will be a full equal to our current campus in Seattle,” the company said. “In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community.
The list includes cities from only the United States and Canada, with no bids from Mexico making it to the final 20. Los Angeles is the only city on the West Coast to make the list. Most finalists are located on the East Coast and in the Midwest. Toronto is the only Canadian city on the list.
Amazon expects to make its final decision before the end of the year.
Here’s the full list of finalists.
- Atlanta
- Austin, Tex.
- Boston
- Chicago
- Columbus, Ohio
- Dallas
- Denver
- Indianapolis
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- Montgomery County, Md.
- Nashville
- Newark
- New York
- Northern Virginia
- Phladelphia
- Pittsburgh
- Raleigh, N.C.
- Toronto, Canada
- Washington, D.C.
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