INDIANAPOLIS -- Thursday is the deadline for North American cities to submit their bid to be the next location for Amazon's second headquarters, and three Indiana regions are hoping to be chosen.
The city that gets the Amazon headquarters will bring as many as 50,000 jobs to the area. Amazon says its second headquarters will be an equal to the first, which is in Seattle.
Amazon is looking at a location with "strong local and regional talent," according to its website. Three Indiana regions are submitting a bid for the new headquarters -- Indianapolis, Jeffersonville and Gary.
The state is supporting all three proposals, Gov. Eric Holcomb said.
"Whether it's Fort Wayne, or Jeffersonville, or Gary, or places in between throughout our state, I'm really proud of the work that's occurred in three different regions, in northwest Indiana, here in central Indiana and down in southeast Indiana," Holcomb said. "There will be three different packages sent to Amazon for their review."
Indianapolis officials have been pretty quiet about the fight to get the new headquarters to the Circle City.
At least, quieter than many other cities across the country.
A southern Arizona development group delivered a 21-foot cactus to Amazon, trying to woo the company to Tucson, Arizona. Amazon donated it to a museum.
The city of Stonecrest, Georgia voted to change its name to Amazon if it gets chosen as the new location.
Even Gary, Indiana has made a few public moves to try and get Amazon's attention.
The city took out an ad in the New York Times for a letter to Jeff Bezos, Amazon's CEO.
"My name is Gary and I am a legacy city in the northwest corner of Indiana," the letter reads. "I know locating to me may seem far-fetched. But 'far-fetched' is what we do in America."
But don't expect Indiana's capital city to suddenly change its name.
"We'll treat these like every package we submit," Holcomb said. "We're very confident about how attractive this is. Our incentives from a state perspective will be in line with what we've done in the past and continue to do in the future."
Holcomb has laid out the pitch for why Amazon should choose Indiana:
"We're a state that really stands out. Not just with all of our No. 1 rankings in the Midwest and being a top state in the country, but all around the world and in the country know that Indiana is a place of stability, of predictability, of certainty. You can't put a price tag on that, although you could say that if you fly over Indiana, it's going to cost you money. We've become a place where businesses are located, but they locate and grow."
Amazon says its investments in Seattle over the past few years have generated $38 billion into the city's economy, so hundreds of cities are submitting bids.
The company will be announcing its decision sometime in 2018. In the meantime, Indiana officials will be waiting patiently.
"We'll continue to be by the phone, looking for any information they may need to help them make the best decision they can, and we think the wisest one will be in Indiana," Holcomb said.
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