“Welcome to Amazon” is a phrase commonly heard on the tech titan’s Seattle campus but typically reserved for new employees and office tours. That could all change if Stonecrest, Ga., gets its way.
The Stonecrest City Council voted Monday to carve out a 345-acre stretch of land inside the town to give Amazon its own city — if the retailer chooses Stonecrest for its second North American headquarters. Don’t worry, Jeff Bezos won’t be overseeing a sewer system if this happens. The Atlanta Journal Consitution reports that the “City of Amazon” could make a deal with Stonecrest to get municipal services.
“There are several major U.S. cities that want Amazon, but none has the branding opportunity we are now offering this visionary company,” said Stonecrest Mayor Jason Lary, according to the Journal Constitution.
Even with that branding opportunity, Stonecrest’s bid for Amazon HQ2 is a longshot, to say the least. The town’s population is roughly half of what Amazon is seeking: metropolitan areas with at least 1 million residents. Stonecrest will also be competing with nearby Atlanta, which is planning to submit its own response to Amazon’s request for proposals.
Stonecrest’s plan to name a city after Amazon is just the latest in a series of wacky stunts that local governments are pulling to get the retailer’s attention — everything from Tucson gifting CEO Jeff Bezos a 21-foot cactus to Philadelphia partnering with the Wharton School to solicit pitches from graduate students as a class project.
The Amazon mania has been building in the weeks following the company’s surprise announcement that it will open a second, “fully equal” corporate headquarters to house up to 50,000 employees. With the RFP deadline of Oct. 19 looming, Stonecrest probably won’t be the last city to make a crazy play for HQ2.
