Los Angeles made Amazon’s short list of potential sites for its second headquarters on Thursday, leaving Holly Schroeder, chief executive of the Santa Clarita Valley Economic Development Corp., feeling confident about L.A.’s prospects. Schroeder believes Santa Clarita Valley has the growth potential, infrastructure and conveniences to accommodate the online giant’s 50,000-employee site. According to Schroeder, her region is one of nine from the greater L.A. metropolitan area identified by Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. as viable and included in L.A.’s Amazon proposal. Amazon announced the 20 potential cities on its shortlist, culled from 238 proposals vying for Amazon’s HQ2. Joining L.A. are Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Miami; Montgomery County, Maryland; Nashville; Newark, N.J.; New York City; Northern Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, N.C.; Toronto and Washington, D.C. According to Amazon, the company plans to invest more than $5 billion in construction and top-salary hires. With 214,000 residents, Santa Clarita’s Southern California footprint is substantial; its population ranks third of L.A. County’s 88 cities– behind only L.A. and Long Beach. “We are growing as a tech center,” Schroeder said. “We have plans to build millions of square feet of housing that can accommodate 50,000 employees.” Amazon has yet to release an exact date in 2018 when it will announce its chosen city. But its next step is “to dive deeper into their proposals, request additional information as necessary, and evaluate the feasibility of a future partnership that can accommodate our hiring plans as well as benefit our employees and the local community,” the company’s website said.
Santa Clarita Leader Confident in Amazon’s L.A. Selection
