oct-2017

2 3 T From the Editor Move over “The Bachelor!” Get over yourself “The Dating Game!” If you really want a peek at the latest manifestation of who’s wooing whom, and why, you need look no further than the rush and tumble of North American cities falling all over themselves to prove they are the next dreamy, life partner for Jeff Bezos and his planned new second Amazon headquarters, dubbed, somewhat unromantically: HQ2. But what’s in a name? In the corporate world, when looking for a suitable match, it’s the dowry that counts. And what a dowry there is: A $5 billion dollar facility that will employ as many as 50,000 workers. With that kind of largesse, who needs a pre-nup? Of course, not just any city will do. Amazon has a wish list of charac- teristics that potential spouses will have to display in what already has turned into the largest and gaudiest mating dance in commercial history. Amazon’s chosen city must have at least a million people and be in close proximity to institutions of higher learning; it must offer easy access to an airport with direct flights to Seattle (home of Amazon’s HQ1), New York, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., as well local mass transit capabilities; it has to have at least a 100-acre greenfield site and/or existing buildings of at least 500,000 square feet; and it has to have a sizable pool of software en- gineers and high-tech talent, as well as broad cultural amenities. In addition, Amazon hasn’t been shy about asking its gaggle of suitors for a host of incentives that could help seal the deal, i.e. donated land, breaks on taxes and fees, and/or relocation subsidies. Several major metropoles have either expressed interest or have already submitted their bids, which must be in by October 19th. They include: New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Cleveland, Denver, Indianapo- lis, Kansas City, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, St. Louis, San Diego, Toronto, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids, and Arlington, Virginia. Other municipalities that may be putting on their top hat, tying up their white tie, and brushing off their tails include: New Haven, Columbus, and Lexington, Kentucky. In addition, some really small burgs have their boosters, as well. For example, Southfield, Michigan, the state’s 19th largest city, has the world’s first shopping mall; it’s been defunct since 2015 and available. Somers, N.Y., a bucolic gem in West- chester County, is the former home of IBM and Pepsi. Even the tiny township of Scugog, Ontario, pop- ulation, 22,500, and profiled in this issue of Business View Magazine, believes it has the perfect 100-acre parcel ready and waiting. And while every suitor is hop- ing that it will be the one to catch the bouquet, one recent mar- riage-averse letter writer to the New York Times offered Amazon a tongue-in-cheek alternative: “I pro- pose that Amazon put its new head- quarters in the South Pole-Aitkin basin on the dark side of the moon. It is very spacious, 1,600 miles in diameter – so big it can be shared with Wal-Mart. Perhaps, if we can remove these companies from the face of the earth, we can get our nice little local bookstores and other retail outlets back. This will improve our local economies and, hopefully, provide decent-paying jobs for our neighbors.” I guess some people just don’t believe in romance. Or may they just don’t like big weddings. Al Krulick Editor-in-Chief Editor-in-Chief Al Krulick Associate Editor Lorie Steiner Director of Advertising Lauren Blackwell Research Directors Paul Payne Brendan McElroy Josh Conklin Lisa Curry Joanna Whitney Digital Strategist Scott Mosquera Creative Director Dana Long Vice President of Business Development Erin O’Donoghue Vice President of Production Aimy McGrew Vice President of Publishing Andre Barefield CGO Alexander Wynne-Jones COO Brian Andersen Executive Publisher / CEO Marcus VandenBrink USA Canada Caribbean Oceania Email for all inquiries: info@businessviewmagazine.com WWW.BUSINESSVIEWMAGAZINE.COM 12559 New Brittany Blvd Fort Myers, 33907 239.220.5554 CONTACT US SOURCING, PRODUCING, PROCESSING & MANUFACTURING CONNECTING 2,000+ industry participants EDUCATING 30+ sessions on the latest technology EMPOWERING New business opportunities & industry networking October 25 – 26, 2017 Music City Center, Nashville,TN ALUMINUM USA 2017 Leading Trade Fairs of Aluminium ALUMINUM USA 2017 www.aluminum-us.com A L U M I N U M Presented in collaboration with: REGISTER TODAY AT WWW.ALUMINUM-US.COM W .ALUMINUM-US.COM/BVP