‘We are on this big time’: Wilmington will pitch for Amazon HQ2

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Amazon has made a huge announcement: It’s looking for one North American city to become the home of its second, just as massive, headquarters.

50,000 jobs and +$5B in investment – we are searching for Amazon HQ2, a second headquarters city in North America https://t.co/bEabxtEFqS pic.twitter.com/k24dFAw6zQ

— Amazon News (@amazonnews) September 7, 2017

Mayors across the country, including Philly Mayor Jim Kenney, are tossing their hats in the ring, while critics of Amazon shake their heads.
But let’s get real. HQ2 should obviously be in Wilmington.
We’re a former company town searching for an identity; we’re already family, with Amazon warehouses in New Castle and Middletown; we have one of the fastest internet speeds in the nation; and the state is famously business friendly. Some of the old corporate office buildings downtown, relics of DuPont and MBNA, sit half empty, and our Riverfront area is in a perpetual state of “just the beginning.”
Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzyki and staff assure us they are all over this opportunity.
“We are on this big time and we will make a very strong effort to bring Amazon to Wilmington,” said John Rago, the Mayor’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Communications. “We are already in contact with some of our other economic development partners in the state, because in Delaware we work together to make things happen. This is an exciting opportunity and we are putting together a good case for why Amazon would find Wilmington to be a welcoming and supportive home for the company’s headquarters.”
Wilmington is known for welcoming corporate headquarters, from MBNA to Bank of America, AAA and ING. It’s kinda our thing. We can do this.