Buchanan County Commissioners said Buchanan County is one of 18 counties included in a Kansas City bid as possibilities for an Amazon headquarters.
As previously reported, the internet giant announced it was looking to establish a second headquarters earlier this month. Amazon said it will employ as many as 50,000 people at its new base, with average employee pay of more than $100,000, and with a capital outlay of more than $5 billion to fully establish the new headquarters. Amazon’s RFP specifies that it’s interested in metropolitan areas with more than one million people. In Missouri, that means only St. Louis and Kansas City will even qualify. In its Request for Proposal (RFP), Amazon calls for a “summary of total incentives offered for the Project by the state/province and local community”.
Buchanan County commissioners visited with the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce on Monday to talk about a bid for an Amazon headquarters.
“We visited with the Chamber yesterday just to get their ideas. They had submitted a bid through Kansas City on two possible locations,” said Eastern District Commissioner Scott Burnham.
Western District Commissioner, Ron Hook said the bid submitted was for two areas of 100 acres or better for a potential Amazon headquarters.
“The Kansas City Economic Committee included 18 counties around the area that are involved in this and we happen to be one of them,” Hook said. “In doing so, we provided the two pad sites we thought would be best for headquarters.”
Burnham said the possibility of having Amazon move its headquarters to St. Joseph is a long-shot.
“When you look at the requirements, they want a metropolitan area of one million people or more,” Burnham said. “But when you encompass the Kansas City area and the surrounding, as Ron said everything from Olathe really to even far as Topeka, then I think the draw from that is a lot greater and the possibilities are a lot greater.”
Cities have until Oct. 19 to apply. Amazon said a final site selection and announcement will be made next year.
(Post staff and Missourinet contributions)