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Grand Rapids out of running for Amazon's 2nd headquarters

Despite a 108-page proposal from local economic development organization The Right Place, Amazon has passed on Grand Rapids as a potential city to house the online retailer’s second headquarters. The Right Place President Birgit Khlos, who declined to be interviewed released this statement,

"The Right Place was honored to lead a team of state and local partners to submit Grand Rapids’ bid for Amazon’s HQ2 project. Although we were not selected to advance in this process, we take great pride in how the greater Grand Rapids area was presented to Amazon and the collaborative work that went into it. 

Aside from The Right Place, our team included Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc., the City of Grand Rapids, Michigan Department of Transportation, Gerald R. Ford International Airport, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and the Governor of Michigan.

As much as this process helped identify our major assets, it also helped us to assess our gaps and where we can continue to improve. We plan to continue working together as a region to market West Michigan as a destination for business success. 

I thank all our partners for working quickly and diligently to present our region to a global brand. Although we won’t land HQ2, we can all take pride in what West Michigan has to offer!”

Amazon plans to invest $5 billion in the new headquarters and could employ as many as 50,000 people in and around the city it chooses.

While there was high hopes Grand Rapids might emerge as a leading candidate, the odds were not necessarily in its favor. According to Amazon, 238 cities across North America also submitted proposals including Detroit, which also did not make the top 20.  

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