CORNWALL, Ontario – The City of Cornwall’s Division Manager for Economic Development Bob Peters confirmed to Seaway News that the City would indeed submit an application to be the home of Amazon’s new North American headquarters.
Peters said that “it doesn’t hurt to put your name in the hat,” and explained that by doing so, Cornwall could be considered for something like an Amazon satelite office, if not the headquarters.
He explained that Cornwall’s bid was a long shot as the City did not meet Amazon’s basic requirements, especially when it comes to the workforce requirement. Amazon is seeking a city with an available workforce of at least 50, 000 people.
He said Cornwall could not include factors such as its proximity to metropolitan areas like Montreal and Ottawa, because the city could only include resources in its local area.
“We will be tailoring our investment package to address the points brought up by Amazon,” Peters said, but explained that even a city like Ottawa, with a population of around 1 million, was also unlikely to be successful.
However, Peters explained that he welcomed the opportunity that Amazon was providing.
“Some people have said that it is a marketing ploy by Amazon, but we wish more companies were as open as this,” he said.
At the beginning of September, Amazon announced their intention to build a new headquarters in North America and announced that they would accept bids from any city that applied.
Amazon states that the new headquarters would bring about $5 million worth of investment during the construction phase alone as well as 50, 000 high paying jobs.
Amazon currently has an headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and they estimate that their presence in that city has generated $38 billion for the local economy.
