Stamford Reacts To Not Making Amazon's List Of Finalists For New HQ

STAMFORD, Conn. – Even though Stamford did not make it to the short list of possible locations for Amazon's second headquarters, city officials still see a silver lining and think that Stamford will make an appealing location for another major company.

Mayor David Martin, right, and Economic Development Director Thomas Madden were disappointed by Amazons' decision, but saw a silver lining
Photo Credit: *File*

Casey Donahue

01/18/2018 3:00 p.m.

Stamford had been one of two locations the state of Connecticut had proposed to the online retailer as a possible location for a new headquarters. Hartford had been the other possible location the state suggested. Amazon came out with a list of 20 possible locations on Thursday, with no Connecticut locations making the cut.

"We were pleased to hear that Amazon was complimentary of our ideas and proposal as a whole. While we are proud knowing that our city met and exceeded the rigid criteria the state and Amazon set for proposals, we are obviously disappointed we were not selected," said Stamford Mayor David Martin.

Martin noted that the list of Amazon's 20 finalists made it clear that the online retailer was seeking a larger metropolitan area than Stamford.

"The process of putting together this proposal for Amazon highlighted ways that we can increase job opportunities in Stamford, and teach our next generation skills for 21st century jobs that will make Stamford more competitive the next time a major company is considering relocating its headquarters to Stamford," Martin said.

Economic Development Director Thomas Madden said, "Even though Stamford was not shortlisted for HQ2, we put together a very strong application with the state and learned a lot about the strengths and weakness of the Fairfield County region. The ability to add to our strengths, and improve upon a few of our weakness, will allow Stamford to become even more competitive on the next application bid."

"One of the many positive outcomes from this process is the cooperation between municipalities in our region, working together to make a competitive bid package," Madden said. "The city of Stamford looks to continue this cooperation within our region. Apple has recently announced that they are looking for similar second headquarters somewhere in United States. Our team has built the foundation to again offer competitive package for Apple.”

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