New Jersey

#PhillyDelivers Final Pitch to Bring Amazon HQ2 to Town

Philadelphia among a handful of area municipalities that submit bids to be home to Amazon

Win or lose, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney thanked the people who pushed for the City of Brotherly Love to land Amazon's second headquarters.

Kenney praised the efforts of the Amazon HQ2 Coalition for its #PhillyDelivers effort during a speech at the Barnes Foundation Thursday morning.

“The support we received from the leaders and the residents of this region in preparing our bid for HQ2 is really inspiring - not only because we received so much support, but also because we received it from so many different types of people,” Kenney said. “Thanks to their insight, we were able to show that Philadelphia is in the Goldilocks zone for Amazon. Our location is central on the Northeast corridor, our talent pool is vast, and Philadelphia has all of the amenities Amazon's employees want, at a lower cost than other big cities.”

The home of cheesesteaks and Rocky Balboa isn't highlighting either in its pitch to Amazon. In addition to the standard tax and financial incentives, Philadelphia is selling its quality-of-life attributes, said Lauren Cox, the spokeswoman for Philadelphia's commerce department.

Philadelphia released a series of promotional videos in an effort to persuade Amazon to call the City of Brotherly Love their next home.

Using the hashtag "#PhillyDelivers, the city drove home its "Logistics," its "Talent" and its "Livability" with a trio of short videos featuring business leaders like La Colombe CEO Todd Carmichael, Piper Wai co-founder Jess Edelstein, Curalate CEO & Co-Founder Apu Gupta, Urban Outfitter CTO Matt Strode, Iroko Pharmaceuticals founder Osagie Imasogie and Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb and Yard Brewing COO Trevor Pritchett.

Walkability and bike-ability are key features: the city has over 400 miles of bike lanes, an ever-expanding bike share program, and it offers the second-shortest commute times of any city on the east coast, she said.

The cheesesteak might be not be front and center, but food is still a part of the pitch. The city has over 400 sidewalk cafes and more 2017 James Beard Award winners than any other U.S. city. Art is being touted, too. Philadelphia has more public art than any city in the country, and is home to 4,000 murals, she said. It also is home to the nation's first zoo.

Cox said all of the amenities come at a much lower cost than other cities: Philadelphia's cost of living comes in 48 percent lower than Manhattan; 21 percent lower than Washington, D.C.; 20 percent lower than Boston; and 18 percent lower than Seattle.

"Amazon employees are sure to enjoy calling Philadelphia home," she said.

"Centrally located on the northeast corridor, we’re the second largest city on the East Coast. We have an immense amount of access to talent and we have room to grow," said Sylvie Gallier Howard, the chief of staff of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. "They’re a company that needs a lot of employees and needs room to grow."

Amazon, which is based in Seattle and has its headquarters there, has said its second headquarters would bring 50,000 jobs along with it. Howard told NBC10 she visited Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle to get an idea of what the company is looking for.

"Going to Seattle allowed us to see what the campus looks like to get a feel for what the company is like," Howard said. "What they look for in their building."

"I really got the sense that they really need a much more scalable city and that the East Coast would be much more ideal for them," Howard said.

Philadelphia city leaders are stepping up their game to bring Amazon to our city. Over the next 24 hours, nearly a dozen people are headed to Seattle. NBC10’s Erin Coleman caught up with some of them about what it will take to get the new company headquarters here.

Philadelphia is competing with four New Jersey cities. Camden, Jersey City, New Brunswick and Newark have also put in their bids. On Monday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie backed Newark’s effort saying the state and the city are planning nearly $7 billion in tax breaks.

The state of Delaware, Allentown and Delaware County also planned to put in bids.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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