OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Amazon’s announcement Thursday that it’s looking to base a second headquarters in new North American location garnered quick reaction from leaders across the state.
While the company said that it plans to keep its Seattle space, it will spend more than $5 billion to build another “a full equal” headquarters that will house as many as 50,000 employees. Cities and states have a month to apply, and the company will make a final decision next year.
Here are reactions from around Washington state:
-“It has been exciting to watch Amazon’s incredible continuing growth in Washington state these past several years. They’ve attracted some of the brightest minds from around the world and have solidified our state’s standing as one of the most innovative and best in the nation for business. As the company continues to grow - including potential expansion of another 2 million square feet of office space in Seattle - we will have further discussions with them about possibilities in Washington state.” - Gov. Jay Inslee.
-“The basic assumptions around the Washington economy just changed. A rapid expansion in a second HQ, as the announcement seems to indicate, means that one of the greatest engines for economic growth known to history will be growing somewhere else.” - state Republican Rep. J.T. Wilcox, in a posting on his Facebook page.
- “I don’t see it as anti-Seattle, I see it as long-term global growth for the company. We are a midsize American city. We have global companies, global scale and global vision, but our ability to absorb and effectively double the presence of one company is limited.” - Democratic state Sen. Reuven Carlyle, whose district is home to Amazon.
-“Though they won’t find one quite like it, it is telling that Amazon is looking for a city in the model of Seattle for its second home, similar to what major tech companies like Google and Facebook have done in building campuses here.” - Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.
- “Sad day for Washington and Seattle. How long after the new HQ is open until those 40k of existing jobs in the state start to move? What a dark day for our economy.” - Democratic Sen. Guy Palumbo, in a posting on his Facebook page.
- “It doesn’t take much reading between the lines to see what Amazon is trying to tell our region. Amazon, like every other business, needs a stable regulatory environment to feel comfortable making long-term investments.” - Republican Sen. Joe Fain.
-“Amazon’s quest for a second massive corporate base is reminiscent of Boeing’s ongoing efforts to ship jobs out of the Seattle area and hold us hostage. For decades, Boeing executives and billionaire shareholders have carried out systematic economic extortion by pitting cities and states against one another… Amazon has similarly been using its monopoly power to gobble up swathes of prime Seattle real estate, and extract plum deals from the city’s Democratic establishment.” -Seattle City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant.
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