Friday, September 8, 2017

Atlantic County Wants Amazon HQ2 to Do AC

Could Amazon find a second home in Atlantic County? 

County Executive Dennis Levinson believes Atlantic County is a perfect location for the world’s largest online retailer which recently announced it is looking for a second corporate headquarters outside Seattle that will bring 50,000 new full-time jobs with salaries in excess of $100,000.

“We are ideally located within a short distance of Philadelphia, New York and Washington, DC with a local international airport equipped with one of the country’s longest runways, the Federal Aviation Administration’s William J. Hughes Technical Center, a highly acclaimed and nationally recognized university, a diverse population, quality workforce and outstanding recreation amenities,” noted Levinson. “We are also one of six national test sites for unmanned aircraft systems which should be of special interest to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos who introduced the Prime Air project in 2013 to implement drone delivery service.”

According to the county executive, Atlantic County is not only interested, but will be aggressively bidding for this opportunity to bring Amazon to Atlantic County.

Amazon said its second headquarters, referred to as Amazon HQ2, will resemble its Seattle site which during the past six years added $38 billion to the local economy.

“As soon as we heard about this we went to work to develop a strong, attractive proposal with competitive incentives,” said Levinson. “It helps that we now have the Atlantic County Economic Alliance to aid in this effort. Putting together such a detailed proposal would have been much more difficult without the benefit of the ACEA.”
 
Atlantic County could be a legitimate contender based on its assets, location, access to major highways, natural resources, affordable housing, relatively low cost of living and enjoyable quality of life.

“We offer the advantages of an easily accessible east coast location in an attractive setting that is visited by millions each year,” Levinson said. “Stockton University’s enrollment continues to grow and enhance our workforce. And the proximity of the Atlantic City International Airport, the FAA Technical Center, and the Aviation Research and Technology Park help make Atlantic County an ideal prospect.”

“We realize this will be a highly-competitive bid, but we believe Atlantic County is now in a position to proudly compete for Amazon and the like,” added Levinson.

 

 

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