The holidays are a time of reflection and hope. A time for family and loved ones gathering around a hearth. For some, this year they were also about a marketing effort to lure one of the biggest companies in the world to the state of Georgia for one of, if not the, biggest potential “gets” in the history of Georgia economic development.
The Amazon dating game continues and the Georgia Economic Development office came up with some pretty good holiday-related woo to pitch. With some help from Atlanta’s renowned comedy and improve theatre, Dad’s Garage, the development folks utilized that legendary Christmas character, Ebenezer Scrooge, to sell Atlanta to the online commerce giant in Seattle.
Scrooge takes the viewer on a brief tour of some Atlanta hot spots – the Georgia Aquarium, Ponce City Market, the Beltline. He humbugs them all. “Barely sippable drink,” is the Scrooge take on the world’s most identifiable soda brand Coca-Cola.
Ultimately, a delivery regarding Georgia’s status as the number one state in which to do business turns Scrooge around and he learns to love Atlanta. Whether the video will have any impact on Amazon’s actual decision is uncertain. Ponce City Market and the Beltline are probably already on the minds of executives charged with making the decision. It was pretty funny though.
Amazon is expected to make its decision in the next few months and, believe it or not, Atlanta is not the only city interested in snagging the world’s largest internet retailer for its HQ2. Earlier this month, Inc.com outlined some of the top cities that are likely to win the prize. It spoke with a number of experts and came up with six top contenders. Encouragingly, Atlanta was its top pick for most likely. Between the airport, UPS and other logistical giants, metro Atlanta has a unique infrastructure for logistics, as well as some of the top talent in the world in the industry.
Those other cities though are pulling no punches in rolling out their red carpets. Chicago has reportedly offered to give the company back more than $1 billion in income taxes it would collect from Amazon workers. Detroit, one of the longer shots but which has some things going in its favor, would give Amazon more than $100 million in public subsidies and big tax breaks for three decades. This was part of Detroit’s 242-page book they submitted as part of their bid.
Paddy Power, a betting site, has placed odds on a number of cities that are in the running. Atlanta is indeed the favorite, currently sitting at 3:1 odds. Austin however, is also at 3:1. Boston is currently in second at 7:1. Washington D.C. and New York City (as if their economies need it) are next up at 14:1. Don’t hold your breath if you’re reading this in Halifax, which is currently sitting at 100:1 odds.
