Oct. 4 (UPI) — As cities around the country compete with each other to lure Amazon’s second headquarters, lawmakers in a Georgia city are offering to rename their town “Amazon” if the company opens a new headquarters there.
“There are several major U.S. cities that want Amazon, but none has the branding opportunity we are now offering this visionary company,” said Jason Lary, the mayor of Stonecrest, Ga. “How could you not want your 21st century headquarters to be located in a city named Amazon?”
In addition to renaming the city, the Stonecrest City Council voted to de-annex 345 acres of land, which is almost double the 175 acres Amazon says it would need for its new headquarters, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported.
In addition to the land, Amazon has said it is looking for a location that is close to an international airport and accessible through public transit. The Stonecrest location is less than 30 miles from the Atlanta International Airport and Lary said it would be possible to extend rail service to Stoncrest from the airport if Amazon chooses the city.
“We have all of those qualities as well with [Metro Atlanta Rail Transit Authority] rail planned to our community, interstate improvements under way and a highly-educated work force eager to see the company locate here,” Lary said, according to WXIA.
The new Amazon headquarters is expected to create 50,000 jobs with an average salary of $100,000 per year. That has led many cities to pitchthemselves to the tech company, including Gary, Ind., which bought a full-page ad in the New York Times to explain why it should be picked, Washington, D.C., which produced a 90 second video to promote itself.
Cities have until October 19 to send in their pitches to Amazon.
