A seven-year local property tax abatement, a one-year sewer and water fee abatement and a land lease for an airport hangar were not enough to sway Amazon to locate its second headquarters in Danbury. Amazon is narrowing the list of cities under consideration to 20, with the largest concentration in the Northeast.
Amazon, based in Seattle, plans to invest $5 billion in the new headquarters and could employ as many as 50,000 people in and around the city it chooses.
Danbury paid a local printer $426 to print 13 copies of the application and for graphic design work. Another Danbury company was paid $750 for a video shoot and edit. A Vernon web development company was paid $1,500 for online advertising. The City's application included a map of the region highlighting the Matrix Center - and its proximity to sites such as Candlewood Lake, the Danbury Municipal Airport, Interstate 84, Western Connecticut State University campuses, the New York state line and the Brewster train station.
The list released on Thursday by Amazon of the finalists includes Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Miami, Montgomery County in Maryland, Nashville, Newark, New York City, Northern Virginia, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Toronto and Washington D.C.
