By Daniel J. Sernovitz Staff Reporter, Washington Business Journal
Officials in D.C., Maryland and Virginia have initiated a series of talks about ways to collectively position Greater Washington to win Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters despite having separate bids for the major economic development prospect.
Brian Kenner, D.C.’s deputy mayor for planning and economic development, acknowledged the conversations after WAMU reported Thursday on the existence of a letter in which the jurisdictions’ top elected officials appeared to present a unified front in pursuit of HQ2, as the Seattle-based e-commerce and cloud computing company has dubbed its search.
“We are the only place where we are talking to two other competitors. I don’t think that Pittsburgh is talking to Chicago. I don’t think that Philadelphia is talking to Raleigh, or whatever it is,” Kenner said at the Downtown D.C. Business Improvement District’s State of the Downtown event Friday morning.