Tacoma loses out on Amazon HQ2 but sees positives from trying to land it
Remember when Tacoma made a pitch for Amazon’s HQ2?
Turns out T-town didn’t get HQ2 (or 3), but the work that went into wooing the online giant “served us well” for future recruiting, said Bruce Kendall, president and CEO of the Economic Development Board for Tacoma-Pierce County, which took part in the local HQ2 pitch.
“We’ve been talking to a number of Silicon Valley companies about expansion opportunities,” Kendall told The News Tribune on Tuesday.
Businesses already in Pierce County such as AIM Aerospace have expanded, and tech company Infoblox has not only grown but served a bit as a brand ambassador for other companies considering expanding operations here.
Past recruiting has shown it can take an average of 18 months to land a new company. It doesn’t hurt to have a model example to point to in your presentations.
“When Infoblox (based in Santa Clara, California) made the decision to set up operation here, that got the attention of other tech companies ... that sent a good market signal this is a good place to find high quality people,” Kendall said.
Infoblox purchased Tacoma-based IID in 2016.
Jesper Andersen, CEO of Infoblox, was asked last week in an interview with The News Tribune how Tacoma was working out for his company.
“We’ve been super happy and treated really well,” Andersen said. “One of the reasons we were attracted to Tacoma is its strong university, and the military is a good area for recruiting for cybersecurity.
“The lifestyle, we think, is awesome, a little less intense than Seattle, and the cost of living is better. We recently decided to move a part of our finance up to Tacoma. We still see good talent.”
Despite losing out on the new Amazon headquarters, Pierce County has felt the Amazon effect.
“Many an early-morning bus has left Tacoma headed for Seattle filled with Amazon employees over the last several years as housing prices in the Seattle area force workers to move south,” Dick Beeson, principal managing broker with RE/MAX Professionals, wrote The News Tribune via email Tuesday in response to questions.
Beeson said that influx from King County definitely has affected the South Sound’s housing market.
“Amazon workers living in South Sound were never the high-ranking executives but the mid-to-lower level personnel who were willing to travel daily so they could afford to own a home,” he said. “That should not change anytime soon.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2018 at 4:14 PM.
