Amazon;s second headquarters in Puerto Rico

That would be an amazing development for Puerto Rico...I pray it is true!

That would be awesome!!!! PR needs investments and jobs!!!! Cup half Full Folks!!!!

Third hand rumors are just that.

No clue if this is going to happen how many jobs it would bring.
At the same time we would have to start paying 11.5% IVU on everything we buy at Amazon...

A friend of a friend of a friend told me, lol, well I hope it's true anyway.

Unlikely to pan out.

I do not think it is likely.
It would be a global shipping point, specially for the US. That would mean loading up the warehouses with items which would need to come by either boat or plane. Sending the items to the customers again means boat or airplane, mostly air plane. Amazon ships so much that it would overload the airport in PR. Likely they would need to use the Ceiba one or the one on the west of the island. Also power would be an issue and transport within PR may also become an issue. I could be wrong, but I just don't see it happening.

PS the article mentioned 50,000 jobs.

Well...you guys can hope and pray, just don't bet your money on it.

My guess is south east US, somewhere next to a large transportation hub, maybe Atlanta?

When will they make public the decision?

I will be seeing my friend in a couple of days and she speaks to her brother daily so I will get some more information. She did mention Roosevelt Station and the fact that they would have their own airport there.

Mrkpytn wrote:

I will be seeing my friend in a couple of days and she speaks to her brother daily so I will get some more information. She did mention Roosevelt Station and the fact that they would have their own airport there.

Yes Ceiba Roosevelt Roads has its own airport and sea Port with plenty of land for 5-10 Amazon HQ's. I still do not think we should count the chicks yet.

New York alone is offering $5 billion in tax breaks to Amazon. And that's just one of 23o-something bids.

There's already a distribution center in Atlanta.

Get real, people.

Without seeing the package PR is offering it is hard to say what if any chances PR has. PR has been trying to get some kind of heavy duty enterprise into Ceiba Roosevelt Roads for a while including the Chinese consortium, the Disney Co. and several others, but no dice yet. Not holding my breath this will happen.

BTW Amazon will make its decision late 1st quarter of 2018 (so end of March)

Absolutely, and without question . . . NOT TRUE.

First, Amazon is not even close to making its HQ2 decision (as in, not even remotely close).  There were almost 250 proposals, and that's just first round bidding open to anyone and everyone.  Amazon is months and months away from making a decision.

Second, it ain't going to be Puerto Rico.  As in, 0% chance.  Amazon is looking for a place that can attract 50,000+ highly-educated STEM workers from top ivy league schools, on Day 1.  Most newly minted Harvard MBA's are not going be attracted to an area where 50% of the people are drinking from a creek.  Amazon, like any company, is looking for a place where top-notch infrastructure already exists.  They aren't looking for a humanitarian mission that requires them to spend 5 years building out basic infrastructure just to get their business started.

Not trying to be a downer, just giving the cold hard facts.

CatsMeow83 wrote:

Most newly minted Harvard MBA's are not going be attracted to an area where 50% of the people are drinking from a creek.

Although I agree with much of what you write, there's no reason to make a statement like this.
Amazon is looking mainly for software development talent, not Harvard MBAs.

Amazon wrote:

HQ2 will be the second Amazon headquarters in North America. We are looking for a location with strong local and regional talent—particularly in software development and related fields—as well as a stable and business-friendly environment to continue hiring and innovating on behalf of our customers.

And 50% of the people drinking from a creek... Have you ever been to Puerto Rico?

While I agree that PR probably won't be selected, and likely wouldn't be just based on the logistics of being 1000 miles off the mainland,  there is no reason to assume that educated people would not be attracted to the island.  First, San Juan has a very lively cultural community and offers a great deal in terms of top entertainment, as well as many first rate bars and restaurants.  Second, the outer island is absolutely beautiful, the beaches world class and the people are friendly.  What's not to like, unless you really have a thing for winter?

IMO. lets not waste a lot of energy on this pie-in-the-sky stuff.  When I get back to the island, it's gona be a lot of hard work and fast cash to get my place repaired and improved.

We're not getting  any younger, I gotta get to work and build it right.   

Sitka wrote:

IMO. lets not waste a lot of energy on this pie-in-the-sky stuff.  When I get back to the island, it's gona be a lot of hard work and fast cash to get my place repaired and improved.

We're not getting  any younger, I gotta get to work and build it right.   

That's the spirit Sitka.

Gary wrote:

Amazon is looking mainly for software development talent, not Harvard MBAs.

Amazon is the #1 destination for Harvard MBA grads - you would be surprised at the volume of MBA grads that are now scooped up by AMZN and the other top tech companies.  Regardless, I doubt that a software engineer is going to be any less picky or selective about living conditions than an MBA grad (in fact, engineers will probably be worse).

Gary wrote:

And 50% of the people drinking from a creek... Have you ever been to Puerto Rico?

Indeed I have.  And my point is simply that people making $100K a year are going to want to live in a place with reliable electricity and clean drinking water.  I mean, can you really dispute this?  Right now, the majority of the island, as I understand, lacks access to these 2 things.  I appreciate that it's only temporary, but certainly the electricity issue is not a novel one, and will continue to be a problem for the foreseeable future, even once electricity is restored.  Again, not trying to be a downer - I'm simply stating the fact that one of the world's largest tech companies will need reliable electricity to operate its multinational business, and I think prospective employees will be a little reluctant to relocate to a year-round tropical climate where they may or may not have electricity.

annabfalter wrote:

What's not to like, unless you really have a thing for winter?

I would totally be with you, if Puerto Rico had reliable infrastructure in place.  I was visiting AMZN's HQ in Seattle for a meeting a couple years ago, and all of the employees were in a state of near revolt at the time, because apparently the cafeteria had run out of organic bananas, and they wouldn't have any available for another few days.  Trust me, these are not the people that are going to take intermittent power outages and other inconveniences in stride.  I could be wrong, for sure, but I think it's telling that Puerto Rico is having to offer the most crazy tax incentives available anywhere in the world in order to attract professionals and other highly-skilled workers to the island (and that was before the storm came).

Sitka wrote:

IMO. lets not waste a lot of energy on this pie-in-the-sky stuff.  When I get back to the island, it's gona be a lot of hard work and fast cash to get my place repaired and improved.

We're not getting  any younger, I gotta get to work and build it right.   

Couldn't agree more.  And that was really the point of my earlier post, even though it didn't come off that way.  The island has plenty to say grace over right now, without spending time and resources on this pipe dream.  Save the dry powder for next time around, and hopefully PR will be better positioned to make a competitive bid next time AMZN or another big company comes knocking.

Just to provide further clarification, Amazon is seeking a second headquarters and does not plan on putting a fulfillment center in Puerto Rico. The new headquarters wherever it is located will be managing strategic operations for Amazon and will serve as a continuity of operations headquarters for the 1st headquarters. Items will not be shipped out of this headquarters.

moralesc317 wrote:

Just to provide further clarification, Amazon is seeking a second headquarters and does not plan on putting a fulfillment center in Puerto Rico. The new headquarters wherever it is located will be managing strategic operations for Amazon and will serve as a continuity of operations headquarters for the 1st headquarters. Items will not be shipped out of this headquarters.

That is good to hear, then PR has a chance.

Unlikely Rey.

Were it a distribution hub it would need access to transport nodes.  Since this is Amazon and shipping is expected to be fast (except, apparently TO Puerto Rico), it would need access to mainland trucking and rail.  Can't do that from an island.

But an operations center needs two things that Puerto Rico doesn't have.  The first is infrastructure, not simply roads but electric grid, telephone and internet.  All are unreliable on the island.  Can't run an ops center if you can't communicate.

The second thing it needs is talent --  corporate, management professionals to staff the center.  They largely don't exist in PR, preferring the better opportunities on the mainland to few opportunities on the island.  The language of business at the ops center will be English.  If only half of the 50,000 jobs required fluency in English, could Amazon find that many professionals on the island?  Could they entice workers from the mainland to move to Puerto Rico, in its current condition (even pre-Maria) when so many are moving the other way?

Sure there's a chance.  But I'd say the odds are 1 in a 1000.

It maybe a slim chance but a chance.