Did San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg move too quickly in taking San Antonio out of the running for the new second headquarters for e-commerce giant Amazon?
News Radio 1200 WOAI reports that the firm of Moody's Analytics has analysed all 62 metro areas that were in the running for the second headquarters, which is expected to create some 50,000 new jobs and have a one billion dollar annual economic impact, and says San Antonio is one of the best cities in the running, ranking San Antonio number 14, ahead of both Dallas and Houston.
Austin ranked number one, ahead of Atlanta, Philadelphia, Rochester, and Pittsburgh, rounding out the top five.
Moody's Analytics studied several factors which were listed by Amazon as key to their decision. Those included business environment, human capital, costs, transportation, and quality of life.
Ironically, Seattle, which is the current home of Amazon, and will remain its primary headquarters, did not rank in the top ten, due largely to its very high cost of living.
Austin scored well on 'business environment' including low cost of living, a current critical mass of tech workers, and the high incentives that Texas offers new businesses.
It was those incentives that, in part, prompted Nirenberg to drop San Antonio's bid for the expansion.
In a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos addressed to 'Dear Jeff,' the mayor said he suspects that Amazon has already decided where it wants its second headquarters to be located, and this is an attempt to squeeze taxpayer money out of cities.
"Blindly giving away the farm isn't our style," Nirenberg wrote, adding that San Antonio prefers to spend its tax money on improvements which will benefit the taxpayers, and make the city more attractive for current and new residents and employers.