Author: Cecilia Kang / Source: New York Times
Ting Shen for The New York Times
WASHINGTON — When Amazon canceled its plans to build an expansive corporate campus in New York City this week, officials more than 200 miles away in Northern Virginia decided to make a statement.
Their message: Their region has its act together, they have been far more prepared, and they were free of drama.
The comments came from those in the area that has branded itself National Landing, an amalgamation of Arlington and Alexandria neighborhoods that was the other winner in Amazon’s sweepstakes last year to award massive new campuses.
But after landing Amazon, National Landing faded from the spotlight as attention focused on New York City. In New York, lawmakers, progressive activists and union leaders began contending that Amazon, one of the world’s biggest tech companies, did not deserve nearly $3 billion in government incentives to open a campus there.
The politicking grew heated. Then came Amazon’s very public breakup with New York on Thursday.
“A number of state and local politicians have made it clear that they oppose our presence and will not work with us to build the type of relationships that are required to go forward,” Amazon said about New York in a statement.
In Northern Virginia, officials wasted little time. Within hours, Christian Dorsey, the chairman of the Arlington County Board, held a call with reporters.
“I can’t speculate what went wrong” in New York, Mr. Dorsey said, “and I don’t really care to think about it much.” But he discussed how his area had done a better job of planning for Amazon, persuading the company to come and then rolling out an infrastructure and development plan to make its arrival possible.
“It highlighted a particular community dynamic in a region that has its act together,” Mr. Dorsey said. He added that Amazon hadn’t changed its plans to bring 25,000 jobs to National Landing by 2030, with the potential to increase that to 38,000 employees later.
Monica Backmon, the executive director of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, was even more direct.
“Oh, yes, we are pleased,”…
The post Northern Virginia Is Keeping Amazon’s 25,000 Jobs, and Wants You to Know It appeared first on FeedBox.