This is what cities that lost out for Amazon HQ2 need to do next

The Amazon HQ2 search is over, but cities can still use those creative plans to drive innovation. Here’s how. Originally published in MarketWatch

There’s this collective feeling that just about everybody got played in the sweepstakes to snag Amazon HQ2. To be sure, there was a letdown after the Seattle-based retailer recently announced its new East Coast headquarters would be split between Crystal City, Va., across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., and Long Island City, N.Y., a neighborhood in New York City.

But rather than sulk, or falsely proclaim that you’re glad you didn’t get picked in the end, I believe that every city that competed for HQ2 should dust off those plans and turn that enthusiasm, creativity and financial commitment into finding the next hyper-growth company that could be created in your own backyard.

I’m serious. What if folks took their proposals and committed to building or attracting a start-up that could transform their communities — #NextHQ?

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos just gave the world permission to build the next big thing, telling employees at an internal meeting in November that Amazon is “not too big to fail.” He restated his belief that the company won’t be around forever: “Amazon will go bankrupt. If you look at large companies, their lifespans tend to be 30-plus years, not a hundred-plus years.”

Everyone can win this time

I want to see a new competition, but this time one where everyone stands to win. Think about the impact of 30 well-funded startups seeded across the heartland, all with a good shot at being the next most valuable, innovation-driven company.

Amazon created the playbook. In less than 25 years, the company went from an online bookstore that was founded on a $250,000 investment from Bezos’ parents to the most valuable enterprise in the world, with a stock-market value of more than $800 billion and more than 541,000 employees worldwide.

The individual drive to innovate made that happen. It’s time to do it again — this time with a community supporting an entrepreneur with a vision.

Amazon’s HQ2 selection process revealed just how committed civic leaders are to innovation. Across the country, cities and towns put together bids that threw billions in tax breaks, subsidies and other incentives at the company in hopes of landing the lucrative designation.

The offers included Chicago’s $2 billion in tax breaks, Columbus, Ohio’s promise of a 100% property tax abatement and a 35% income tax refund, and Philadelphia’s offer of nearly 300,000 square feet of free downtown office space. Atlanta even promised to include an Amazon-employees-only lounge in one of the world’s busiest airports.

Don’t give up

This is an opportunity for all the cities that competed for Amazon’s HQ2 and lost to redirect their focus to finding the next Amazon. That means putting the resources toward a local moonshot project that could, in time, be worth more than Amazon and its various HQ2s will ever be.

How can cities do this?

? Believe it’s real: Before British medical student Roger Bannister ran a mile in less than four minutes in 1954, the feat was widely believed to be physically impossible. The human body simply wasn’t capable of running that far, that fast. But, after Bannister broke the barrier, suddenly a rush of other runners duplicated the feat. Once they saw that it was possible, the mental barrier to running a four-minute mile was gone. To create #NextHQ, cities need to share this kind of belief. Make it real by believing in it. There will be something that comes after Amazon — the question is just where it will happen. Supporting projects across the country will maximize the chances of finding it. And if your community’s local efforts falls short of that phenomenal success story, you’ll still have a behemoth of a company right in your backyard. It’s worth the bet.

? Maintain a sense of urgency: Amazon announced its HQ2 process in September 2017, giving interested cities just over two months to make plans and submit their bids. That process set a tempo and a timeframe that civic leaders were eager to follow. Cities marshaled their resources and dropped other projects they were working on simply because they thought they could get Amazon to move there. We need real timelines and realistic expectations. Leaders need to maintain that sense of urgency. Invite proposals from local entrepreneurs and your universities as well as established companies that just need a boost. Maybe they could do better in your backyard. With #NextHQ, someone has the chance to fund a company that could potentially change an industry or the way we live our lives. This is not the time to take the foot off the gas. Momentum is on our side.

? Make a pledge: If your city was willing to put up $2 billion for Amazon, you should be willing to commit that same $2 billion for #NextHQ. It’s going to take the same effort, in terms of incentives and support, as HQ2 did. Invest in workforce development. Offer tax breaks to attract the brightest talent. Support your local innovation ecosystem. Remove any obstacles that might get in the way. Step into this challenge by making public your pledge to find and fund the #NextHQ. Broadcast the competition and your commitment to fund the best idea.

None of this is going to be easy, but the potential is too big to ignore.

We’re already seeing it in some areas. In Cleveland, for instance, the city has, in the wake of its lost bid for HQ2, rededicated itself to the innovation economy and been actively promoting itself as a destination for tech businesses. Blockland, a city-wide effort to attract and nurture businesses in the fast-growing blockchain industry, is just one example. Thousands of people, including some of the biggest names in blockchain, crypto, and tech are converging on Northeast Ohio because a few people decided it was going to happen.

The HQ2 sweepstakes are over, but it has helped unlock a new dedication to innovation.

Now it’s up to us to leverage that momentum.