Corporate relocation searches can be cloak-and-dagger affairs, complete with secretive office tours, project code names and hotel rooms booked under aliases.Amazon, one of the world’s most powerful and recognizable companies, is turning that model upside down as it considers Chicago and 19 other contenders for its second headquarters, also known as HQ2.
The online retailer’s highly publicized search has already generated months of publicity. It energized North American cities and regions that responded with fine-tuned pitches and, in some cases, incentive packages worth billions of dollars.
In doing so, the Seattle-based giant may be creating a new playbook that other major corporations can follow.
“I think we saw confirmation of that earlier this week,” Ron Starner, executive vice president at Atlanta-based Conway, a corporate expansion and relocation consultancy, said Friday, referring to Apple’s announcement about plans for a second major campus.
Although Apple’s exact plans are unclear, it appears to be the first example of another company following Amazon’s approach of tipping its intentions by megaphone rather than whisper.
Amazon and Apple may not spark a widespread trend, but it’s possible other large, well-known companies could try a similar approach. “Only companies with really deep pockets and wherewithal and stature can do site selection in this public a fashion,” said John H. Boyd, principal of The Boyd Co., a Princeton, N.J.-based corporate site selection consultancy.
Amazon publicly announced plans to create HQ2, and up to 50,000 high-paying jobs, in September. The company received proposals from 238 North American cities and regions by its October deadline. The company on Thursday announced it had chosen 20 contenders, including Chicago, which proposed eight potential sites in the city and two in the suburbs.
“Usually a fairly quiet process, Amazon has brought corporate headquarters searches to a new level, making cities raise their game in assessing and quantifying the value of their physical, intellectual and cultural assets,” Andrea Zopp, CEO of World Business Chicago, said in an emailed statement.
Headquarters searches typically have been treated more like state secrets than branding opportunities.
