Amazon HQ2 - Page 46

StoOgE · #**901** Posted **Sep 11, 2018, 6:48 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by AusTxDevelopment

I'm pretty sure they are going to DC...

Amazon joins DC Chamber of Commerce
https://www.businessinsider.com/amaz...cussion-2018-9

Amazon joins Economic Club of Washington DC, Bezos surprise guest speaker at 9/13 Milestone Celebration Dinner
https://www.economicclub.org/

They have offices in DC and have been a member of the Austin Chamber for years.

I think DC is one of the "real finalist" areas (along with Atlanta and the two Texas cities) but I'll eat my hat if it's DC proper. Not just because of cost and building restrictions but I seriously doubt they want to go from the frying pan (active local government in Seattle) to the fire (active local government answerable to US Congress).

paul78701 · #**902** Posted **Sep 11, 2018, 7:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoOgE

They have offices in DC and have been a member of the Austin Chamber for years.

I think DC is one of the "real finalist" areas (along with Atlanta and the two Texas cities) but I'll eat my hat if it's DC proper. Not just because of cost and building restrictions but I seriously doubt they want to go from the frying pan (active local government in Seattle) to the fire (active local government answerable to US Congress).

Of the three Washington area options on the list, I'm guessing northern Virginia is the only one that has a real shot.

StoOgE · #**903** Posted **Sep 11, 2018, 7:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul78701

Of the three Washington area options on the list, I'm guessing northern Virginia is the only one that has a real shot.

Agreed. I think a moderate to R leaning state in a liberal urban area is the dream. Let's you recruit well for tech employees and saves on taxes and government interference to business.

Throw in a large built in tech industry and it eliminates most of the other red state or soft blue candidates.

chinchaaa · #**904** Posted **Sep 11, 2018, 8:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Agreed. I think a moderate to R leaning state in a liberal urban area is the dream. Let's you recruit well for tech employees and saves on taxes and government interference to business.

Throw in a large built in tech industry and it eliminates most of the other red state or soft blue candidates.

Virginia isn't really an R leaning state anymore. It's gone blue for several election cycles.

StoOgE · #**905** Posted **Sep 11, 2018, 8:42 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by chinchaaa

Virginia isn't really an R leaning state anymore. It's gone blue for several election cycles.

I said soft blue as well. VA leans D, but we're decades away from anyone other than a business friendly Dem winning a state wide election, especially given the make-up of beltway Dems.

urbancore · #**906** Posted **Sep 12, 2018, 2:55 PM**

This says a lot in my opinion. Story from Austin Monitor.

Innovators, Austin lifestyle, UT brought Army here

Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, who serves as director of combat systems for Austin’s brand-new Army Futures Command, said Tuesday that Austin was chosen as the site of the first new Army command since 1973 because Austin has the talent, the educated workforce, the entrepreneurial spirit and the lifestyle the Army was looking for in choosing the site for its innovative new command.

Before his lunchtime speech to the Real Estate Council of Austin, Ostrowski told the Austin Monitor, “We were looking for the right city that offered the quality of life for the employees who would be part of the command. We were looking for a city that has innovators, like the Capital Factory, with the incubation capabilities you all have here. It’s a great mix of academia as well as industry – nontraditional – so that is the reason why we came here.”

Austin was the clear winner, “hands down,” he said. Other cities that were reportedly in the running included Boston; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina; and Philadelphia.

Austin1971 · #**907** Posted **Sep 12, 2018, 3:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dcbrickley

This says a lot in my opinion. Story from Austin Monitor.

Innovators, Austin lifestyle, UT brought Army here

Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, who serves as director of combat systems for Austin’s brand-new Army Futures Command, said Tuesday that Austin was chosen as the site of the first new Army command since 1973 because Austin has the talent, the educated workforce, the entrepreneurial spirit and the lifestyle the Army was looking for in choosing the site for its innovative new command.

Before his lunchtime speech to the Real Estate Council of Austin, Ostrowski told the Austin Monitor, “We were looking for the right city that offered the quality of life for the employees who would be part of the command. We were looking for a city that has innovators, like the Capital Factory, with the incubation capabilities you all have here. It’s a great mix of academia as well as industry – nontraditional – so that is the reason why we came here.”

Austin was the clear winner, “hands down,” he said. Other cities that were reportedly in the running included Boston; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina; and Philadelphia.

I've heard that the budget for R&D will be in the neighborhood of 10b. Huge get for Austin. The amount of business this will create is off the charts.

loonytoony · #**908** Posted **Sep 12, 2018, 5:02 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin1971

I've heard that the budget for R&D will be in the neighborhood of 10b. Huge get for Austin. The amount of business this will create is off the charts.

I was talking with a (former) military person about this yesterday. They made an interesting point in that while the Futures Command itself is a big deal on it's own, it won't be the Command itself that has the biggest impact on Austin. He thought lots of the DoD heavies like Boeing / Lockheed / etc will now want to have a local presence - and would potentially be opening offices or sending workers here.

We vs us · #**909** Posted **Sep 12, 2018, 5:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by loonytoony

I was talking with a (former) military person about this yesterday. They made an interesting point in that while the Futures Command itself is a big deal on it's own, it won't be the Command itself that has the biggest impact on Austin. He thought lots of the DoD heavies like Boeing / Lockheed / etc will now want to have a local presence - and would potentially be opening offices or sending workers here.

I was wondering about this, too. It seemed pretty clear that the knock-on effects from a development standpoint would all be from contractors and R&D corps.

Was the Futures Command office situation temporary? Or did it feel semi-permanent there in the UT building?

urbancore · #**910** Posted **Sep 12, 2018, 5:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austin1971

I've heard that the budget for R&D will be in the neighborhood of 10b. Huge get for Austin. The amount of business this will create is off the charts.

10B a year?

loonytoony · #**911** Posted **Sep 12, 2018, 5:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by We vs us

I was wondering about this, too. It seemed pretty clear that the knock-on effects from a development standpoint would all be from contractors and R&D corps.

Was the Futures Command office situation temporary? Or did it feel semi-permanent there in the UT building?

I think it'll be semi-permanent. During Q&A after his speech Ostrowski was asked as to what kind of commercial footprint they anticipated. He mainly mentioned UT sites, though there was talk of smaller affiliate locations. Capital Factory was specifically mentioned. I got the impression most of the main offices will remain on UT though. It seems they really want to have a good connection with academia and also take the army-ness out of it all, if that makes sense. He kept stressing Futures Command as "unconventional".

Novacek · #**912** Posted **Sep 14, 2018, 2:30 PM**

An announcement sometime this year, they promise.

https://www.engadget.com/2018/09/14/...-hq2-announce/

We vs us · #**913** Posted **Sep 14, 2018, 2:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by loonytoony

I think it'll be semi-permanent. During Q&A after his speech Ostrowski was asked as to what kind of commercial footprint they anticipated. He mainly mentioned UT sites, though there was talk of smaller affiliate locations. Capital Factory was specifically mentioned. I got the impression most of the main offices will remain on UT though. It seems they really want to have a good connection with academia and also take the army-ness out of it all, if that makes sense. He kept stressing Futures Command as "unconventional".

This made my antenna prick up in re: the Futures Command:

Quote:

According to a Sept. 12 announcement, GTY Technology Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: GTYH) plans to spend $365 million in cash and stock for six tech companies spread across North America and intends to combine them under a single umbrella. Such deals are often referred to as roll-ups, when an investor combines similar companies.

{snip}

The six businesses expected to be acquired in the coming months are:

• Bonfire Interactive Ltd., based in Canada, a developer of cloud-based procurement software

• CityBase Inc., based in Chicago, a developer of government integration software, for $160 million in cash and stock

• eCivis Inc., based in Pasadena, Calif., a developer of cloud-based software to management grant programs

• Open Counter Enterprises Inc., based in San Francisco, a developer of software for government permitting and licensing

• Questica Inc. and Questica USCDN Inc., based in Canada, which make software for budgeting, performance management and transparency and data visualization

• Sherpa Government Solutions LLC, based in Denver, a consulting firm and developer public-sector budgeting software.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/n...ed-by-365.html

Jdawgboy · #**914** Posted **Sep 14, 2018, 3:06 PM**

Should we be worried that Austin will not be getting 5G at least for the near future while all the other Texas cities will? I don't see how this helps our tech industry..

The ATX · #**915** Posted **Sep 14, 2018, 3:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Should we be worried that Austin will not be getting 5G at least for the near future while all the other Texas cities will? I don't see how this helps our tech industry..

We don't have time for 5G. We're moving on to 6G.

smith_atx · #**916** Posted **Sep 14, 2018, 7:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jdawgboy

Should we be worried that Austin will not be getting 5G at least for the near future while all the other Texas cities will? I don't see how this helps our tech industry..

No. It's mostly marketing right now. Hardly any devices have "5G" radios.

Here's an article on one recently: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018...h-the-moto-z3/