50,000 jobs are up for grab for whichever city Amazon chooses for its second headquarters.
Tuesday afternoon, Memphis city leaders unanimously approved a $60 million incentive package to entice the company.
“Memphis should be their first choice. They should think of Memphis . We meet all their requirements. We would love to have them here,” said Doug McGowen, Chief Operating Officer for the city of Memphis.
The city of Memphis is trying to make a bold statement with its pitch. The first $50 million is to pay Amazon $5,000 for each job it brings in, and another $10 million in public transportation incentives.
The council is collaborating with Shelby County officials to help seal the deal. Amazon says it’s looking for a city of more than 1 million people, has an international airport, mass transit system, and a solid business climate.
“The application is to address everything from the live ability of the community to the proximity airports to the interstate systems, highway systems just a lot of things,” said Mayor Mark Luttrell of Shelby County. “We’re in the process now of really just pulling together an application packet that has to be submitted by the 19th of this month. So the deadline is getting close but there are a lot of moving parts in this right now.”
A team is also working to present a unique geographical location.
“We are going to sweeten the pie as much as possible. We want to go up to a 30-year pilot based on the jobs that they are offering at a minimum of $60,000, but Amazon’s package says $100,000 minimum,” said Memphis City Council Chairman Berlin Boyd.
It’s a collective effort by Memphis and Shelby County.
Collierville is also preparing a plea to Amazon and that is not sitting well with one Memphis City Councilman.
“You know I was disappointed to see that Collierville is submitting one of their own. If anything, Collierville, Bartlett, Hernando, Horn Lake, West Memphis if we are putting money on the table they need to bring money to the table as well,” said Martavius Jones, a Memphis City Councilman.
The application has to be submitted to Amazon by October 19.
We reached out to the city of Collierville, but the Mayor was tied up in meetings. We are waiting for a response.
100 cities are competing to get Amazon’s headquarters. Some favorites are Atlanta, Chicago, Austin, and Denver.
