Niagara vying for Amazon HQ
ALLAN BENNER
Niagara will compete with megacities across North America in the hope of becoming a second home for Amazon.com Inc.
Amazon announced Thursday that it plans to invest US$5 billion to create a massive facility in North America, described by the company as its second headquarters.
The facility is expected to created as many as 50,000 high-paying job in the next 15 years.
But despite competition from cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Boston, New York and Pittsburgh, Regional Chair Alan Caslin says Niagara is an obvious choice for the Seattle-based electronic commerce giant.
“We quite frankly are the best positioned for a company like Amazon to connect with. We are designated as the economic gateway and we are a foreign trade zone point, right here in Niagara,” Caslin said.
“For a company like Amazon, it makes a lot of sense to have those as benefits that we can work with and take advantage of. I think it’s a win all around.”
Niagara Centre MP Vance Badawey shared Caslin’s optimism about the region’s potential to bring the company here.
“It fits in well with what we’re doing here in Niagara. We’re really elevating our ability to perform globally,” Badawey said.
Despite being a substantially smaller community compared to the competition, Badawey said Niagara is “second to none” when it comes to manufacturing, its workforce, and post-secondary education facilities.
A significant advantage Niagara has over the big cities is offering room to grow.
Niagara has plenty of relatively inexpensive developable land in close proximity to Western New York and the GTA, along with access to major transportation routes.
“They’re not shoe-horned in areas. They can have a 30-year master plan for the area where they can see expansion happening. … You can do that in Niagara. It’s hard to do that in areas that are intensified, like Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal,” Badawey said.
“When you look at all those attributes, Niagara’s day has come.”
Badawey said he plans to work with Niagara’s other MPs, as well as municipal and provincial representatives, hoping to target government programs to the individual needs of companies like Amazon.
Caslin said one potential drawback in Niagara’s bid is its population size, limiting its ability to fill as many jobs as people who live in Welland.
“To get that many people for those jobs we have to reach out beyond Niagara’s borders,” Caslin said. “That’s why I’ve already proactively contacted the mayors on both sides, saying, ‘Does it make sense for us to partner on this and put a joint bid together?’”
Caslin said he has contacted Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, and Paul Dykster from Niagara Falls, N.Y., “and so far, I’m getting some good reception.”
“Niagara is really catching its stride when it comes to being a player in the business world. We’ve demonstrated that a couple of times,” Caslin said.
He said there are many more companies that are “knocking on our doors to see what kind of opportunities are here.”
“One was an advanced food manufacturing operation that came to see us last week,” Caslin said. “Niagara is the major corridor for trade with the U.S., so it makes a lot of sense. Between us, Hamilton, and Niagara Falls N.Y, there is a lot of property available. When you’re talking about $5-billion, that’s not one property, that’s multiple properties in multiple locations, and putting together a scenario that works from an operational perspective is what we need to do.”
Amazon has given cities interested in bidding for the headquarters until Oct. 19 to submit proposals.
AlthoughCaslinsaideffortstomeet that deadline are already underway, he said the company is looking for expressions of interest at this time, as opposed to detailed proposals.
“Our economic development team in Niagara from all the communities are already getting together and trying to strategies on what looks best to put forward as a bid for Niagara. That’s already happening, just like it did for General Electric, and just like has been happening for other projects that don’t make the news, but they’re still happening.” ABenner@postmedia.com Twitter: @abenner1