October 18, 2017

Welcome home, Amazon!

pierce county wa amazon hq2 proposal confidential response press conference

Amazon: Connections that Deliver

October 18, 2017 – Tacoma, Wash.

Today, a team from across Tacoma and the South Sound announced they were delivering their proposal for Amazon’s second headquarters (HQ2).

The city, county, and community leaders who joined forces to craft the Tacoma/South Sound HQ2 proposal gathered in the Pantages Theatre lobby to give the proposal an exuberant send-off prior to being delivered to the Seattle headquarters, a day before the October 19 deadline.

Tacoma Mayor Marilyn Strickland, County Executive Bruce Dammeier, Congressman Derek Kilmer and EDB President Bruce Kendall, were the four leaders who came together to ensure that Tacoma/South Sound developed a compelling (and winning!) proposal. They are confident the proposal will clearly communicate to Amazon that Tacoma/South Sound is the premier location for its second headquarters, which will employ as many as 50,000 new full-time employees.

Since Amazon publicly released the HQ2 Request for Proposals (RFP) on September 7 more than two dozen stakeholders have been working diligently on the Tacoma/South Sound proposal. Per the RFP, the specifics of the proposal are confidential and are only being shared with Amazon, the client.

Nonetheless, each of the leaders expressed certainty that the Tacoma/South Sound proposal meets or exceeds Amazon’s requirements for HQ2. These include: excellent sites and building options; competitive capital and operating costs; incentives; local, regional and global labor force; logistics, including commute times and air travel; an expeditious timetable for construction and occupancy; cultural and community fit; and quality of life.

Tacoma/South Sound leaders look forward to following up with Amazon in the weeks ahead. According to the RFP final site selection and announcement will occur in 2018.

About the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County

Since 1978, the private nonprofit EDB has worked with job and wealth-creating companies to grow the economy of the South Sound and Washington State, USA. In the past five years alone, the EDB has helped recruit or retain 3,338 jobs; generated $189 million in wages and salaries; and enabled $252 million in private capital investment. edbTacomaPierce.org