AMZN Amazon.com Inc

By Laura Stevens 

Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday announced a short list of 20 metropolitan areas for its planned second headquarters, kicking off an intense final selection in the contest for the tech giant's investment and jobs.

The finalists, chosen from among 238 places that applied in October, included New York, Boston and Chicago, all big cities with convenient access to airports, robust tech talent and sufficient mass transportation.

Some surprise candidates included Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis.

Amazon says it expects to create as many as 50,000 jobs paying an average of $100,000 or more and generate more than $5 billion in investments over nearly two decades.

The company also expects to build or acquire 500,000-plus square feet of office space to open the first phase of its project as soon as next year, according to its request for proposals. Amazon said Thursday it expects to make a location decision in 2018.

The promise of those benefits has triggered a bidding war among applicants, in what economic-development experts have said is one of the most public and broadest contests to woo corporate investments in decades. Cities and regions across North America have offered big incentives and quirky proposals to try to attract the online retail giant.

The race puts Amazon in the position of kingmaker for cities across North America at a time when its business is booming. But the choice to split headquarters also comes as technology giants face more concerns about their increasing dominance in certain industries.

President Donald Trump has called out Amazon on Twitter over issues including state taxes and shipping with the U.S. Postal Service.

Meanwhile, Amazon founder and Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has recently stepped up his political game, last week donating $33 million to scholarships for undocumented immigrant high-school graduates.

Mr. Bezos also became one of the first tech chief executives to join legal action opposing Mr. Trump's travel-ban order last year.

Those moves have prompted some site selection experts to speculate Mr. Bezos may choose a location where an influx of workers could help promote political change.

Indeed, a flood of high-paid tech workers and their families could bring significant changes to even major metro areas, potentially pushing up wages and housing prices, which has been the case in Amazon's home market of Seattle in recent years.

The Full List of Cities

   -- Atlanta 
 
   -- Austin, Texas 
 
   -- Boston 
 
   -- Chicago 
 
   -- Columbus, Ohio 
 
   -- Dallas 
 
   -- Denver 
 
   -- Indianapolis 
 
   -- Los Angeles 
 
   -- Miami 
 
   -- Montgomery County, Md. 
 
   -- Nashville 
 
   -- Newark, N.J. 
 
   -- New York City 
 
   -- Northern Virginia 
 
   -- Philadelphia 
 
   -- Pittsburgh 
 
   -- Raleigh, N.C. 
 
   -- Toronto 
 
   -- Washington D.C. 

Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2018 09:53 ET (14:53 GMT)

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