CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati is one of at least one hundred U.S. cities vying for Amazon's second headquarters location, or "HQ2."
Mayor John Cranley said he thinks the Queen City has a "legitimate shot."
"We can win the Amazon.com bid," Cranley said, before listing off 10 reasons that Cincinnati is the ideal location for Amazon HQ2.
Among those reasons were greenspace, walkability, nearby universities, the arts, "shovel-ready" urban space, affordability -- compared to some competitors -- and "we are fun."
"I mean, BLINK? Who else could have pulled something like that off?" Cranley said.
Councilman Kevin Flynn also pointed to several breweries within eyesight of the news conference's location at The Banks.
"One more thing -- beer," he said, drawing laughs.
Cranley cited several publications that listed Cincinnati in the top dozen contenders for HQ2. When a reporter asked Cranley about other publications' dismissal of Cincinnati -- The New York Times picked Denver as the best fit for the Amazon HQ2 because of its tech talent, quality of life scores and ease of commuting, while CBS News scratched Cincinnati off its list because less than a third of its population has a bachelor's degree -- Cranley suggested that the other publications may have a hometown bias.
"Other outlets that say Pittsburgh or Dallas may be the best option -- those are Pittsburgh or Dallas outlets, I would imagine," he said. "What we need is a Cincinnati outlet to say Cincinnati is the best option."
Bids were due Thursday; Cincinnati's bid for the $5B headquarters is done and submitted, and now the waiting begins.
All the parties involved have signed non-disclosure agreements, so we don't know exact details of incentives being offered. But we do know the region is competing with 100 other communities across the country, including Denver, Toronto, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Austin, Boston and New Orleans.
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Cranley said Cincinnati submitted its bid with Northern Kentucky, but that he didn't see the exact details of the Northern Kentucky bid. Cranley said Cincinnati's offer included the same tax incentives offered to General Electric employees when the company brought its headquarters to The Banks.
Amazon said HQ2 could employ 50,000 people with "average annual compensation exceeding $100,000." Amazon’s original headquarters in Seattle employs about 40,000.
