Kenney: Amazon reps came to Philly for HQ2 scouting

Mayor Jim Kenney confirmed to the Inquirer Wednesday that, much like other cities on the shortlist for Amazon’s HQ2 project, Philly also got a visit from a team of Amazon reps.

Kenney declined to share more details about the visit, except to say that the representatives met with officials over the course of a day and a half. According to the city’s Department of Commerce, the second phase of Philly’s interaction with the HQ2 project were handed off to the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.

“We will not be sharing any details about this phase of the Amazon HQ2 bid process,” PIDC spokeswoman Jessica Calter told Technical.ly on March 6, after a Washington Post report that Amazon had been scouting sites in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Amazon’s proposed second headquarters, equal in stature to its current Seattle hub, seeks to create 50,000 jobs over two decades. Philadelphia entered the bidding process last September. Some 45 days later it released a public website with its pitch, featuring interactive maps, a slate of four videos and an 85-page document with letters of support from Philadelphia City Council, Gov. Tom Wolf and local public figures.

(The impacts of such a project in Philly are complex and far-ranging. Here’s Philly expat Chris Beiter with his take on the changes Amazon could bring to Philadelphia.)

Denver, Dallas and Austin, Texas, are among other cities to have been visited by Amazon teams.