Northeastern Pennsylvania -
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
In a bid to woo online retail giant Amazon to place its second corporate headquarters in this corner of the state, Northeast Pennsylvania will collectively put its best foot forward in one application.
NEPA does not necessarily meet all requirements sought by Amazon, as spelled out in its HQ2 specifications, but that's not unusual in such searches, said representatives of local economic development groups. Amazon also may not necessarily be wedded to its own requirements. It could change its approach or goals as it weighs competing proposals from cities and regions throughout the nation, said John Augustine, president of Penn's Northeast, a cooperative that aims to attract large firms to the region and leads NEPA's pitch for Amazon.
Penn's Northeast will submit a joint application with economic development representatives from five counties: Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wayne, Monroe and Schuykill.
“One city is going to win this. Who knows what Amazon might decide? You don't know, and if you don't try, you have no chance,” Augustine said. “We're putting our best assets forward.”
Landing Amazon admittedly is a long shot, but one well worth taking, said Augustine and Bob Durkin, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. The effort could come up short with Amazon, but become a template for trying to lure other companies, they said.
“This is the first time NEPA has truly had a regional response to a project,” Augustine said. Previously, “We've done it piecemeal by county.”
In September, Amazon, the e-commerce giant that recently bought Whole Foods, asked cities and economic development organizations throughout North America to submit proposals to become the firm's HQ2 home. The applications are due by Thursday. A final site selection and announcement will be made in 2018, the firm says.
Amazon's specifications lay out the scope of the project and it's massive, akin to building a small city or large campus from scratch. The firm seeks 500,000 square feet of space to start, in a Phase I in 2019, and plans for a total of 8 million square feet over time, or beyond 2027.
The company prefers a metropolitan area with more than 1 million people. In that respect, Northeast Pennsylvania's metro area falls short, with 500,000 residents in Lackawanna, Luzerne and Wyoming counties. However, the entirety of NEPA, including Lackawanna, Luzerne, Wyoming, Wayne, Susquehanna, Monroe, Pike, Carbon, Schuylkill, Columbia, Bradford and Sullivan counties, is home to 1.2 million.
Amazon boasts that its investments in Seattle, its current headquarters, from 2010 to 2016 brought in $38 billion to the city's economy. The HQ2 impact on the winner also promises to be transformational. The project expects to pump over $5 billion into capital expenditures and lead to the hiring of as many as 50,000 full-time employees over 10 to 15 years, with average annual $100,000 salaries. As such, the spinoff benefit of an HQ2 would spread throughout the broader region.
NEPA's pitch will tout top assets, including its “tremendous workforce,” an extensive network of colleges and universities, a relatively low cost-of-living and abundant “quality-of-life amenities,” Augustine and Durkin said.
Amazon already has familiarity with NEPA, with warehouses in Pittston Twp., Covington Twp. and near Hazleton.
Amazon's desire for mass transit represents a mixed bag for sprawling NEPA, which lacks subways and passenger trains but has an extensive freight rail network and an international airport that may prove crucial for cargo, Augustine said. An HQ2 campus with multiple locations, rather than one self-contained complex, also may win the day, and NEPA provides ample space for such an approach, he said.
Other Keystone State cities and communities, including Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, are making their own pushes for Amazon. The state also launched a social media campaign, #AmazonInPa, to promote Pennsylvania, generally, for Amazon's HQ2.
Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf and the state's federal senators and numerous representatives sent a joint letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos expressing their collective support and urging Amazon to consider Pennsylvania's wide array of geographic and economic advantages for an HQ2.
“With more than 200 years of revolutionary industry and intellect, dating back to the birth of our country, Pennsylvania has become a hub for trailblazers and innovative ideas, resulting in longstanding, successful legacies that are now common household names across the United States,” the joint letter says.
Contact the writer:
kbolus@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5114; @kbolusTT on Twitter
jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185; @jlockwoodTT on Twitter
