Amazon to Build Second HQ in North America

Post by vyrotek » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 7:00 PM UTC

devmunchies wrote: post #261

fooey wrote: post #218

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I completely agree with that generalization The people who want to work for Amazon wouldn't like living in Utah, and the people living in Utah wouldn't like the people who work for Amazon I've been in tech in Southern Utah for almost 20 years, and it's extremely difficult to find qualified people. If I didn't have a house I love, and family around, I would have left a long time ago.

Southern Utah is way different/smaller than northern. Is there even a $1billion company HQ'd in southern Utah? I'm in Seattle but my company is HQ'd in Utah Valley. There is lots of tech talent in Northern Utah. Heck, Angular Conf and React Rally are in SLC every year for a reason.

Post by smcdow » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 7:10 PM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #304

fooey wrote: post #232

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Progressive islands in conservative states are almost worse They just get diced up and have no voice in state or federal government, and you end up with things like the NC and Texas bathroom bills. Why would a company like Amazon move to a state who's already so wrong on human rights issues? That's just asking for boycotts and mass resignations. I'd wager it's vastly more likely Whole Foods will move away than Amazon…

> Progressive islands in conservative states are almost worse. They just get diced up and have no voice in state or federal government Not always. If it's a small area, sure it may get split apart, except packing is a thing as well and just as big of a deal. But Austin proper has nearly a million people. The metro area is more than two million. You'd need to split it into 6-8 districts even to have a shot at creating…

Post by ceejayoz » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 7:17 PM UTC

mywittyname wrote: post #346

ceejayoz wrote: post #157

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> modest tech scene Anywhere Amazon puts a HQ is going to have a pretty decent tech scene pretty rapidly. > no great CS/CE universities Columbus is 90 minutes away, and Amazon recruits internationally. Close proximity to a good CS program is hardly a strict necessity.

Sure, but having a great university down the street means they get first crack at interns. The biggest problem with recruiting tech people to live in Cincinnati is that most people are unimpressed when they visit. Cincinnatians like nasty food and get excited over utterly boring events. So when visitors come, people recommend they try Skyline and go to the fireworks or something and it generally leaves a bad taste in…

Post by mratzloff » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 7:35 PM UTC

avenoir wrote: post #386

mratzloff wrote: post #67

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Small qualified developer pool to draw from and hard to attract outside talent. I grew up in eastern Kansas and left in part because of dismal career prospects. They'll end up choosing an up-and-coming city (i.e., positive population growth).

Perhaps many years ago? Eastern Kansas has a pretty massive tech sector now. So do some parts of Kansas City metro.

Post by Pxtl » Thu, Sep 07, 2017, 7:43 PM UTC

Animats wrote: post #316

Geekette wrote: post #282

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I've read in the past of how such deals (of factory/office X choosing to open location Y based on tax incentives) ultimately not benefiting the city involved, especially when the companies pull tactics like closing unexpectedly shortly after receiving incentives and moving elsewhere. Given this, I'm fairly sure that a wide-ranging study of such infrastructural deals would show that many (most?) communities involved a…

Most such deals are a net loss for the community. Some of the bad ones have been for data centers, which employ very few people. Neither do manufacturing plants, which just don't need that many people.