Amazonian lessons

The west coast of Florida, and most of the state, whiffed at the Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes — but not all is lost.

Bids on the project, projected to include up to 50,000 employees and some $5 billion in capital investments, included two from Manatee County and one combined from Tampa and St. Petersburg. Miami-Dade/Broward/Palm Beach, Orlando and Jacksonville also submitted bids.

Yet Miami was the only one in Florida to make it to the second round, of 20 cities. That list, the release adds, includes Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Nashville and Raleigh, N.C. “Thank you to all 238 communities that submitted proposals,” says Holly Sullivan, with Amazon Public Policy, in the statement. “Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough — all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity. Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation.”