A Maine Racetrack Didn’t Lure Amazon. Multiply That Disappointment by 218.
- 6 years ago
A Maine Racetrack Didn’t Lure Amazon. Multiply That Disappointment by 218.
“When they rolled this idea out, the narrow description they used really only defined about 30 cities,” said Mr. Phillips of Day 1, referring
to how Amazon had said it was looking for a metropolitan area in North America with at least a million people, among other criteria.
Amazon, he said, “wants to get the highest bid and highest subsidy possible, so now the 20 finalist cities will go revise their bids.”
“From a local point of view, it looks like job creation in your community,” Mr. Rolnick added.
The simplicity of the application process, which involved answering nine questions, providing data
and touting the city, “encouraged us and several hundred others who did not have a viable chance to make the strongest possible argument why it should be us,” said Mr. Hall, the town manager.
“I’m certainly disappointed,” said Scott Phillips, who ran a development team called Day 1
that promoted a proposal to build an entirely new 50-square-mile city for Amazon between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, equidistant from each.
“This new headquarters is merely a stop on their road to global conquest,” Mr. Hall said.
An Amazon spokesman said, “All the cities received direct communication from Amazon, including many personal phone calls.”
Many of the other also-rans did not want to talk.
Mr. Phillips of Day 1 said he had gotten a receipt from Federal Express for delivering his proposal in October and never heard from Amazon after that.
“Very disappointed,” said the Bay Area Council, which had submitted a bid on behalf of San Francisco and four neighboring cities.
Mr. Hall said he had received “no word whatsoever” from Amazon about the fate of his application.
“When they rolled this idea out, the narrow description they used really only defined about 30 cities,” said Mr. Phillips of Day 1, referring
to how Amazon had said it was looking for a metropolitan area in North America with at least a million people, among other criteria.
Amazon, he said, “wants to get the highest bid and highest subsidy possible, so now the 20 finalist cities will go revise their bids.”
“From a local point of view, it looks like job creation in your community,” Mr. Rolnick added.
The simplicity of the application process, which involved answering nine questions, providing data
and touting the city, “encouraged us and several hundred others who did not have a viable chance to make the strongest possible argument why it should be us,” said Mr. Hall, the town manager.
“I’m certainly disappointed,” said Scott Phillips, who ran a development team called Day 1
that promoted a proposal to build an entirely new 50-square-mile city for Amazon between Oklahoma City and Tulsa, equidistant from each.
“This new headquarters is merely a stop on their road to global conquest,” Mr. Hall said.
An Amazon spokesman said, “All the cities received direct communication from Amazon, including many personal phone calls.”
Many of the other also-rans did not want to talk.
Mr. Phillips of Day 1 said he had gotten a receipt from Federal Express for delivering his proposal in October and never heard from Amazon after that.
“Very disappointed,” said the Bay Area Council, which had submitted a bid on behalf of San Francisco and four neighboring cities.
Mr. Hall said he had received “no word whatsoever” from Amazon about the fate of his application.