The massive online retailer announced the finalists Thursday for the project, which is expected to cost more than $5 billion and employ as many as 50,000.
Raleigh’s selection as one of 20 possible sites for Amazon’s second headquarters was positive news for economic development officials in the Cape Fear region.
The massive online retailer announced the finalists Thursday for the project, which is expected to cost more than $5 billion and employ as many as 50,000. The company says the facility also is expected to create tens of thousands of other jobs and tens of billions of dollars in added investment in the area.
Officials in the Cape Fear region say some of that impact could be felt here.
Robert Van Geons, president and chief executive officer of the Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corp., said only a handful of communities can handle a project the size of Amazon’s second headquarters.
The company says the new facility will be a full equal to its current campus in Seattle. Amazon estimates that its investments there from 2010 to 2016 added $38 billion to the city’s economy. It expects to make a decision later this year.
“We are looking for a location with strong local and regional talent — particularly in software development and related fields — as well as a stable and business-friendly environment to continue hiring and innovating on behalf of our customers,” the company says on its website.
Van Geons said that Cumberland County could benefit from road improvements and possible passenger rail service to Raleigh, depending on where the headquarters was located.
“We’re just on the fringe of being directly impacted,” he said.
Pat Corso is executive director of Moore County Partners in Progress, which serves as the county’s economic development arm. He said Moore County and other areas south of Raleigh could be impacted if Amazon puts its second headquarters on that side of the city.
“It depends on where it’s located,” Corso said.
Harnett County’s economic development office says on its website that the county is located within an hour of Raleigh and “the globally recognized Research Triangle Park.”
The Sanford Area Growth Alliance, which seeks to expand and diversify the economic base of Lee County, notes on its website that the county is 40 minutes from Raleigh-Durham International Airport and even closer to the Research Triangle Park.
Moore County is connected to the Triangle area by U.S. 1, Corso said.
“People here commute to Raleigh every day,” he said.
Southern Pines, located off U.S. 1 in Moore County, could be a beneficiary of the Amazon headquarters if it was in Raleigh, Corso said. The town has an area being developed near the highway, he said.
Some Cumberland County residents also might work at the new headquarters.
Many people drive from the county to Raleigh, Van Geons said. Some people also telecommute and only have to go to the office a few times a week.
Van Geons said some other companies might want to be in the same region as the Amazon facility.
“It would benefit the state as a whole,” he said.
Staff writer Steve DeVane can be reached at sdevane@fayobserver.com or 486-3572.