MAYOR RAS J. BARAKA STATEMENT ON AMAZON SELECTION OF NEWARK TO ITS TOP 20 LIST FOR NEW HEADQUARTERS
MAYOR RAS J. BARAKA STATEMENT ON AMAZON SELECTION
OF NEWARK TO ITS TOP 20 LIST FOR NEW HEADQUARTERS
“Amazon’s decision to place the Newark on its short list of 20 municipalities to host is new headquarters is by itself a great victory for our city. It means that world-class corporations and organizations like Amazon have recognized the success of our administration’s efforts to build a stronger city that welcomes business, is open to innovation, and at the cutting edge of technology and transportation.
“Newark is the perfect destination for Amazon because of our incredible business assets and resources, and the fact that it is a place where Amazon could have a tremendous social and economic impact. With more than 60,000 college students in the city, the most untapped bandwidth of dark fiber in the world, and access to Newark Liberty International Airport, the docks, railways, and roadways of the eastern corridor, Newark has unparalleled logistical advantages for a company like Amazon. This moment provides an opportunity for Amazon to show that a company can do good in the world and also do well as a company.”
“It also speaks to the essential strengths of the people of Newark – our resilience, our diversity, our talent, our productivity, and their amazing work to transform our city and its narrative over the past 50 years. Newark’s momentum has become unstoppable. Amazon can be a powerful partner in helping to forge our future. At the same time, we can help Amazon move its people and products like no other city can.
“The 20 cities to make it to the next phase were: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Md.; Nashville, Tenn.; Newark, and New York City.
“The fact that we are on the short list reflects the powerful collaborative effort that went into pitching Amazon: Governor Christie, Governor Murphy, Senator Booker, the State Legislature, Newark Economic Development Corporation, all of our major corporations, universities, and anchor institutions. This is how we get things done in Newark. We come together as a city and our skill in collaboration is itself something that will enormously benefit Amazon.
“Amazon has seen the many reasons why Newark is a superb choice for its headquarters:
- We offer the world’s fastest internet at 10 gigabits-per-second data speeds, built on an existing 26-mile underground dark fiber network downtown where Amazon already rents space.
- Our capacity to provide the most-cost-effective internet for the speed
- Our capacity to provide the fastest free outdoor Wi-Fi in network in the country, delivering 400 megabits per second.
- Newark’s downtown and proposed Amazon site is 10 minutes from Newark Liberty International Airport, a FedEx hub that offers flights to more than 165 cities.
- Newark hosts the nation’s third-largest seaport, major rail lines, extensive mass transit, including Amtrak, NJ Transit, and PATH, as well as seven major highways, putting 40 percent of Americans within a day’s drive of Newark.
- New York City, Jersey City, Hoboken, New Brunswick, and dozens of major suburban communities are within a 30-minute rail, bus, or car commute to Newark.
- New Jersey ranks among the five most diverse states in the nation, and Newark is its oldest, largest, and most diverse city.
- The region represents a full spectrum of American life, and is home to the world’s largest and most diverse pool of top technical, scientific, and business talent, with a highly-educated workforce, a tradition that dates back to Thomas A. Edison, who developed his first inventions on the downtown Newark street that now bears his name and accommodates the Prudential Center.
- A half-dozen prominent colleges and universities are in Newark, and with those in commuting distance, together graduate 100,000 students annually from every background and field.
- New Jersey is home to 21 Fortune 500 companies. No other region in the nation matches out state for its breadth of industries: finance, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, fashion, advertising, media, insurance, all of which complement Amazon’s business plans.
- More than a decade underway, Newark’s multi-billion-dollar development revitalization is accelerating, at all price ranges and in all neighborhoods.
- Commercial, hospitality, and upscale residential development has spread throughout the city, yet Newark still has miles of developable land available, and is the most affordable in the region.
- Amazon’s new neighborhood, built ground-up, would be a magnet for additional development for other companies that drive, thrive, and prosper from innovation.
- Amazon’s immense resources, innovative business approaches, and forward thinking business model can play a transformative role in shaping the destiny of the city of Newark for generations to come.”
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