{"id":18810,"date":"2017-09-12T01:36:14","date_gmt":"2017-09-11T17:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-space-venture-provides-hints-about-amazons-hq2-plan\/"},"modified":"2017-09-12T01:36:14","modified_gmt":"2017-09-11T17:36:14","slug":"jeff-bezos-blue-origin-space-venture-provides-hints-about-amazons-hq2-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-space-venture-provides-hints-about-amazons-hq2-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture provides hints about Amazon\u2019s HQ2 plan"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Bezos
Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos shows off an artist\u2019s conception of the New Glenn rocket as Florida Gov. Rick Scott looks on during 2015\u2019s announcement that Blue Origin would build a rocket factory in the Sunshine State. Will there be a similar production for Amazon\u2019s HQ2 announcement? (NASA via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What do Jeff Bezos and his lieutenants look for when they\u2019re in an expansive mood? That\u2019s a key question in the multibillion-dollar contest to attract Amazon\u2019s second headquarters, and the Blue Origin space venture \u2013 Bezos\u2019 other<\/em> multibillion-dollar enterprise \u2013 may well offer clues to the answer.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, Blue Origin has gone through not just one, but two high-profile nationwide searches for expansion sites.<\/p>\n

GEEKWIRE SPECIAL COVERAGE:<\/strong> Amazon to build second HQ in North America <\/h4>\n

In 2015, the company chose Florida\u2019s Space Coast for a 750,000-square-foot rocket manufacturing facility and an orbital launch pad. This June, Blue Origin tentatively tapped Alabama for a 200,000-square-foot engine factory.<\/p>\n

The scale of Amazon\u2019s HQ2 project will be much bigger: An estimated $5 billion in investment and about 50,000 jobs are at stake for the host city \u2013 as opposed to $205 million in investment and 330 high-tech jobs for Blue Origin\u2019s Florida operation, and $200 million and 350 jobs for Alabama.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, it\u2019s not unreasonable to think that at least some of the calculations behind Bezos\u2019 HQ2 process will be similar to those that drove Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin process.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the strategies you can expect Amazon to follow, based on how Blue Origin\u2019s expansion plans have unfolded:<\/p>\n

Keep things quiet<\/h4>\n

Although Amazon has been open about what it\u2019s looking for and the timetable for getting it, don\u2019t expect the company to be so forthcoming about who\u2019s in and who\u2019s out. Blue Origin kept mum about who was in the running for its New Glenn rocket factory until Bezos made the big reveal at Cape Canaveral, Fla.<\/p>\n

Two years later, Blue Origin\u2019s Scott Henderson told Florida business leaders that the field was gradually winnowed down from 12 sites, to seven, to five, and then to three finalists: Georgia, North Carolina and Florida.<\/p>\n

Look for community support<\/h4>\n

Henderson also told the Floridians that support from the business community was key. \u201cFrankly, if not for the efforts of many people in this room \u2026 I could very well be giving this speech in Atlanta, or Raleigh,\u201d USA Today quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n

Bezos emphasized the same point last year when he discussed the selection process for the BE-4 engine manufacturing facility, which ultimately went to Alabama. \u201cYou want to go someplace that\u2019s welcoming, that actually wants the company,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Leverage existing talent pools<\/h4>\n

Amazon\u2019s request for pitches made clear that HQ2\u2019s home base should have a huge pool of talent to contribute to filling 50,000 jobs. That meshes with Bezos\u2019 view that a \u201ctalented workforce\u201d is the second key factor for Blue Origin site selection. \u201cThose jobs are today are very sophisticated jobs, so that\u2019s part of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, it made total sense that Bezos put his rocket factory close to NASA\u2019s prime spaceport, and his engine factory close to the place where NASA builds and tests its own engines.<\/p>\n

Does Bezos merely want a Seattle clone for HQ2, or is he looking for something specific when it comes to talent? For example, might he favor the Midwest for distribution expertise? The East Coast for roboticists, AI experts and other researchers? California for proximity to Silicon Valley and Hollywood? Once we get more of a sense of HQ2\u2019s mission, the choice could well look similarly sensible.<\/p>\n