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Nine-person team from Amazon toured Denver in January as part of HQ2 search

Posted at 11:13 AM, Mar 06, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-06 20:36:58-05

DENVER -- A team from Amazon visited Denver at the end of January as part of its site selection process for a second North American headquarters.

A nine-person team from Amazon spent three days in the region, according to the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos was not part of the delegation. 

Officials say the team held a brief meeting with Governor John Hickenlooper.

The tour included a walking and listening tour, as well as a visit to RTD's A Line, which provides commuter rail service from Denver International Airport to downtown Denver. Meetings also took place with business leaders from both large and small businesses.

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"It was an in-depth economic development focused meeting targeting talent, our economic vibrancy here in Colorado, real estate, diversity, inclusivity and more," said Sam Bailey of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.

Hickenlooper was the only elected official to meet with the delegation. Other meetings included time with established Colorado companies.

"The focus of bringing in business leaders from small and large companies is for them to have a peer-to-peer conversation about —Here's why to operate our company here. Here's why we're growing hundreds of jobs in the metro Denver region," Bailey said. "That's important to have that peer-to-peer connection. They can understand what it's like to operate a business here in Colorado."

While some of the challenges facing our region were discussed, like affordable housing and congestion — the end feeling was positive.

"The interaction with Amazon did show us they are seriously considering Colorado for this transformational economic development project. They want to be a partner in tackling some of the challenges that any community, facing economic success, encounters," Bailey said. 

In mid-January, Denver was announced as one of 20 top candidates for the headquarters, dubbed HQ2.

Amazon says it plans to invest more than $5 billion and hire as many as 50,000 at its second headquarters.

The company expects to announce its decision sometime later this year.