Amazon HQ2 thread

[DMPHL]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Exactly, however I've never seen someone win an RFP where they are lacking on one or more of the main components listed in the RFP, but went above and beyond so that didn't matter.

No one is saying that's the case, that you can win an RFP by pretending going "above and beyond" in areas clearly irrelevant can make up for lacking basic things spelled out in the RFP.

What people are saying is that just meeting basic criteria, while necessary as a foundation, is not enough. You've gotta meet the criteria and at the same time demonstrate a deep understanding of the client (in this case, Amazon) beyond what's written.

[dimondpark]

Uh oh.
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...sale-amzn.html

I hope this unsubstantiated gossip is just that. Do these people realize that the Bay Area is literally going through a housing crisis? Please. Go. Somewhere. Else.

[the urban politician]

^ But isn't that where all the "tech talent" ( friggin code writers--still gets me ) is? Oh Lord, we just HAVE to tap into that Bay Area talent pool to be successful! Oh Lord, how could we possibly succeed if we aren't in the Bay Area?

[Domer2019]

Originally Posted by IrishIllini

Because he shared an article that contradicts the narrative some have been pushing in this thread? The article bnk shared is just an interesting tidbit about Chicago's strengths and business owners have continued to take notice of what the city has to offer. Sharing that in a thread about a major corporate office is not "boosterism" IMO. The fact that it has triggered such strong emotions is interesting...

It's obviously enthuisastic/motivated boosterism, but the points made are relevant. The articles provided stats, not just optimistic Homerism. Not that you can't infer optimism, but that's the reader's job. Everyone's welcome to post the flattering numbers on their own city. The more perspective, the better view. Holistic/organic judgement suffers from ignorance. Tearing down a narrative of every city being equal, and of momentum ("up-and-coming") being more valuable than a city's actual assets (both helps), does put Chicago in a better light, yet deservedly.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Uh oh.
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...sale-amzn.html

I hope this unsubstantiated gossip is just that. Do these people realize that the Bay Area is literally going through a housing crisis? Please. Go. Somewhere. Else.

Not gonna happen.

[dimondpark]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Not gonna happen.

I hope youre right. We dont want that sh*t.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ But isn't that where all the "tech talent" ( friggin code writers--still gets me ) is? Oh Lord, we just HAVE to tap into that Bay Area talent pool to be successful! Oh Lord, how could we possibly succeed if we aren't in the Bay Area?

Why yes, you're absolutely right. The Bay Area does have the highest concentration of top tier tech talent in the world. Facebook, Apple, Google. All HQ'd in the Bay. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone knows that. Not sure what the quotation marks are for. This region is so competitive that Amazon has to look elsewhere for talent. Amazon already has over 750,000 sq ft of office space in the Bay. Fortunately, many Bay Area-based tech companies have satellite offices in other cities. This is why other cities have adopted monikers like Silicon Delta, Beach, Peach, Alley, Prairie, (insert creative city-specific nickname here), and likely where Amazon will find enough talent to support a second HQ. To trivialize tech talent as "friggin code writers" frankly reeks of jealousy (perhaps because Chicago barely cracks the top 15 in tech talent?), and shows a severe lack of understanding and respect. Either give respect where it is due, or get over it.

[skyscraperpage17]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Uh oh.
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...sale-amzn.html

I hope this unsubstantiated gossip is just that. Do these people realize that the Bay Area is literally going through a housing crisis? Please. Go. Somewhere. Else.

Amazon could be "eyeing" space in a number of cities they were already strongly considering before this RFP process began.

It doesn't mean a whole lot though.

[IrishIllini]

Amazon is not going to set up shop in the Bay Area. The Bay has all the problems Seattle does and then some.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Why yes, you're absolutely right. The Bay Area does have the highest concentration of top tier tech talent in the world. Facebook, Apple, Google. All HQ'd in the Bay. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone knows that. Not sure what the quotation marks are for. This region is so competitive that Amazon has to look elsewhere for talent. Amazon already has over 750,000 sq ft of office space in the Bay. Fortunately, many Bay Area-based tech companies have satellite offices in other cities. This is why other cities have adopted monikers like Silicon Delta, Beach, Peach, Alley, Prairie, (insert creative city-specific nickname here), and likely where Amazon will find enough talent to support a second HQ. To trivialize tech talent as "friggin code writers" frankly reeks of jealousy (perhaps because Chicago barely cracks the top 15 in tech talent?), and shows a severe lack of understanding and respect. Either give respect where it is due, or get over it.

The Bay Area is the center of tech at the present. That said, Illinois college graduates are very well represented in the Bay Area. The second largest concentration of University of Illinois Computer Science graduates is...the Bay Area! Something like 60% of Illinois grads end up in Chicago, but ~20% end up in the Bay Area.

Chicago continues to improve its tech scene and has made considerable jumps in just a few years. I've seen rankings that place the city comfortably in the top 10 in the US, which is certainly better than what it was. Illinois as a state graduates the second most STEM graduates a year. If these trends continue, it won't be long before Chicago is undeniably a major technology hub.

[Docta_Love]

Edit; Amazon obviously is a HUGE company and has a lot of interests all around the country and the world for that matter but as I was reading an article about Detroit Billionaire Dan Gilbert who is joining the consortium after participating in Rise of the Rest movements October meeting in Ann Arbor. The goal of Rise of the Rest is according to best selling author J.D. Vance (is) "meant to construct an ecosystem like the one in Silicon Valley" that will provide support and connections to entrepreneurs in the middle of the country. This is a who's who of the top businessmen in the US which as one would think would include Jeff Bezos however it's interesting to speculate because he is participating in this group whose goal is create an ecosystem like Silicon Valley in the middle of the county at the same time Amazon is planning a second HQ somewhere in North America.

Dan Gilbert joins Rise of the Rest movement as investor in new fund

By Scott Suttell
Crain's Cleveland Business - Crain's Detroit Business
December 06, 2017


Steve Case (center) is joined on stage at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor on Oct. 11 by Dan Gilbert of Quicken Loans Inc., author J.D. Vance and Google's Mary Grove. Emily Heintz of the Michigan Venture Capital Association moderated the Rise of the Rest panel.


Billionaire businessman Dan Gilbert is joining the Rise of the Rest effort launched by Steve Case, the billionaire co-founder of AOL, and J.D. Vance, author of the best-selling Hillbilly Elegy, to spark more investment in the middle of the country.

Case and Vance have spent the past several months "barnstorming various cities in a painted bus, holding entrepreneurship competitions as if they were politicians on the campaign trail,"

....

On Tuesday, the $150 million seed fund, also called Rise of the Rest, disclosed its investors, which The Times says "has turned into a Who's Who of American business." Among them: Gilbert, the founder of Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. and the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google's parent, Alphabet; Howard Schultz, chairman of Starbucks; and many others.

"The idea — far grander than the money itself, which is only $150 million to start, pocket money for most of the investors — was to assemble a dream team and create a network effect for entrepreneurs in the middle of the country to align with the biggest names in business," the newspaper said.

Vance told The Times that the fund is "meant to construct an ecosystem like the one in Silicon Valley" that will provide support and connections to entrepreneurs in the middle of the country.

Gilbert participated in the Rise of the Rest tour when it stopped in Ann Arbor on Oct. 11.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...dio%5D=1259950

[Capsule F]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

I hope youre right. We dont want that sh*t.

Yea you do, but it still won't happen.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Docta_Love

Amazon obviously is a HUGE company and has a lot of interests all around the country and the world for that matter but as I was reading an article about Detroit Billionaire Dan Gilbert who is joining the consortium after participating in Rise of the Rest movements October meeting in Ann Arbor. The goal of Rise of the Rest is according to J.D. Vance co-founder of AOL (is) "meant to construct an ecosystem like the one in Silicon Valley" that will provide support and connections to entrepreneurs in the middle of the country. This is a who's who of the top businessmen in the US which as one would think would include Jeff Bezos however it's interesting to speculate because he is participating in this group whose goal is create an ecosystem like Silicon Valley in the middle of the county at the same time Amazon is planning a second HQ somewhere in North America.




http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...dio%5D=1259950

J.D. Vance is not the co-founder of AOL, but this is an interesting tea leaf.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Why yes, you're absolutely right. The Bay Area does have the highest concentration of top tier tech talent in the world. Facebook, Apple, Google. All HQ'd in the Bay. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Everyone knows that. Not sure what the quotation marks are for. This region is so competitive that Amazon has to look elsewhere for talent. Amazon already has over 750,000 sq ft of office space in the Bay. Fortunately, many Bay Area-based tech companies have satellite offices in other cities. This is why other cities have adopted monikers like Silicon Delta, Beach, Peach, Alley, Prairie, (insert creative city-specific nickname here), and likely where Amazon will find enough talent to support a second HQ. To trivialize tech talent as "friggin code writers" frankly reeks of jealousy (perhaps because Chicago barely cracks the top 15 in tech talent?), and shows a severe lack of understanding and respect. Either give respect where it is due, or get over it.

No, I just have more perspective than most. The label "tech" company is really silly, as it essentially delineates companies that started out online versus those that were already established before the internet and made the transition. Every industry is online, and everybody employs computer people now. I view talent as something rare, but apparently these fad-focused media fluff pieces view computer people as something more than what they are: people with training in writing code.

Thise rankings don't matter to me--at all--because large cities like Chicago have so much industry and so many huge companies that you've got to be out of your mind if you think they don't employ zillions of computer people. But they are just that. It's the fad-minded coastal types who insist on labeling them as "talent", and that's what will always draw a chuckle out of me.

A great company will succeed because of an excellent business plan and marketing--those are the true fundamentals. That will always hold true.

[Docta_Love]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

J.D. Vance is not the co-founder of AOL, but this is an interesting tea leaf.

haha too right you are.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by homebucket

To trivialize tech talent as "friggin code writers" frankly reeks of jealousy (perhaps because Chicago barely cracks the top 15 in tech talent?), and shows a severe lack of understanding and respect. Either give respect where it is due, or get over it.

That link don't work for me but any list that ranks Chicago in tech workers 15 is a fraud.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/...exas/82631090/

CHART 2: U.S. MSAs with the most workers in computing and math occupations (May 2015):

1. 280,900 New York-Jersey City-Newark

2. 251,000 Silicon Valley (San Francisco-San Jose-Oakland)

3. 185,200 Washington, D.C.

4. 147,400 Los Angeles-Orange County (Anaheim-Irvine)

5. 141,700 Chicago

6. 140,100 Dallas-Fort Worth

7. 126,600 Boston (including Nashua, N.H.)

8. 117,000 Seattle

9. 91,200 Philadelphia

10. 84,000 Houston



http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ech-job-growth

Appril 21, 2015

Chicago beats even Silicon Valley in tech-job growth







Chicago was one of the fastest-growing cities for tech jobs coming out of the recession.

The number of tech jobs in the city rose 25.8 percent between 2010 and 2013, according to a report on the nation's top tech markets by commercial real estate firm CBRE. That was the third-best showing among the nation's 10 markets with the largest number of tech jobs.

Seattle had the highest tech-job growth in the top 10 at 37.3 percent, followed by Houston at 26.4 percent.



Chicago, the nation's third-most-populous city, had the fifth-most tech jobs of any U.S. city—133,170, according to CBRE, or about 3.5 percent of all jobs.


New York, the nation's largest city and home to the second-highest number of tech workers, registered a 10.2 percent increase in tech employment between 2010 and 2013. Los Angeles grew 13.6 percent.










http://www.businessinsider.com/most-...ago-illinois-7

The 11 most high-tech cities in the US

Chris Weller
Aug. 22, 2017, 11:10 AM


5. Chicago, Illinois

Aug. 22, 2017, 11:10 AM



You might not think of the Midwest as a startup magnet, but Chicago is quickly proving that assumption false. A recent report found Illinois was among the top five in high-tech jobs — 5.28% of all available roles — compared to other US states, with the Windy City making up a big chunk of those spots.

Brookings Institution also says Chicago is a hotbed for urban planning innovation, driven largely by City Digital, a Chicago-based project designed to solve infrastructure problems related to energy management, water, and transportation.

[the urban politician]

^ Wow, that's a lot of talented people

[homebucket]

From my link:
The rankings for the Tech Talent Scorecard are determined based on 13 unique metrics including tech talent supply, growth, concentration, cost, completed tech degrees, industry outlook for job growth, and market outlook for both office and apartment rent cost growth. The top 10 cities on the Tech Talent Scorecard were all large markets, each with a tech labor pool of more than 50,000:



Rounding out the top 15 were Baltimore, Denver, Newark, N.J., Orange County, Calif. and Chicago. Denver and Newark were new this year in the top 15, bumping Phoenix and Minneapolis to number 17 and 18, respectively. Of note, Vancouver also made a strong showing this year at number 16.

Regarding your list, raw numbers favor places with higher population. Also, my source is CBRE, which you also source.

Whether Chicago is 5th on your list or 15th on mine really does not matter to me. The primary purpose of my post was to address another poster's irrational disdain for the term "tech" and/or "talent".

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Every industry is online, and everybody employs computer people now. I view talent as something rare, but apparently these fad-focused media fluff pieces view computer people as something more than what they are: people with training in writing code.

Thise rankings don't matter to me--at all--because large cities like Chicago have so much industry and so many huge companies that you've got to be out of your mind if you think they don't employ zillions of computer people. But they are just that. It's the fad-minded coastal types who insist on labeling them as "talent", and that's what will always draw a chuckle out of me.

Your post illuminates how little you understand tech. I suspect you have some preconceived bias against tech that you are doing a poor job of masking. Just because you don't like the terminology does not make Walmart a tech company because it has a website.

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Your post illuminates how little you understand tech. I suspect you have some preconceived bias against tech that you are doing a poor job of masking. Just because you don't like the terminology does not make Walmart a tech company because it has a website.

Walmart is certainly not a tech company in the sense that Apple, Google, or Facebook are, but they do employ people with those skills to manage/develop websites, apps, self check out, etc. I have friends who work as programmers for insurance companies. Hardly the sexiest gig, but it pays well and is certainly less competitive/stressful than Apple, Google, and Facebook.

So few STEM grads go on to work for companies like Facebook, Apple, and Google. These are the sexy tech jobs. Most STEM grads who end up working as programming professionals are going to be employed by less "sexy" employers who require these skills, albeit for less glamorous purposes.

As has been stated, the startup culture in Chicago and other non coastal metros is certainly improving. I think it's unlikely that another Facebook or Google crops up in SV given the insane costs, but it could still happen. It's unlikely Amazon cares about the location of Google, Facebook, etc. If anything, it's probably better to be further away from them. These are companies that can certainly poach Amazon's best. It's a lot easier to say no to a job that requires you to move 1,500+ miles. Not so much when you can keep your apartment, friends, etc. You could argue this goes both ways, but I don't think Amazon has the pull of Google, Apple, and Facebook.