Amazon Job Ad Reignites HQ2 Rumors For Maryland

WASHINGTON, DC — A new Amazon job listing posted to the DC metropolitan area has people wondering if the company's eagerly awaited "HQ2" could be coming to Montgomery County, northern Virginia or DC.

The newly advertised economic development manager position involves working on economic incentives with state and local government, as well as chambers of commerce and "other key public/private stakeholder groups," according to the job listing.

What really has regional government and development officials perking up is this portion of the job, which also involves "supporting the site selection process." The position does not mention working with the federal government. Candidates must have eight or more years of economic incentive or business development experience.

Montgomery County, Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., are all finalists for the company's second headquarters. Montgomery County is the only county in the country on the short list.

Potential sites have offered incentives to lure the e-commerce company to their areas. While Maryland approved $5 billion in tax incentives for Amazon, Virginia and DC have not publicly released their pitches for Amazon, WAMU reports. Greg LeRoy of Good Jobs First, a watchdog looking at economic incentives, told WAMU the DC area doesn't need to offer incentives because of its large skilled workforce, transportation and nearby airports. However, the competitive nature of the selection process means officials can be pressured to offer incentives.

But while the DC area sites have emerged as HQ2 frontrunners, Amazon isn't indicating the job has any ties to the HQ2 site. An Amazon spokesman told the Puget Sound Business Journal the position isn't related to HQ2 and could be based in either DC or Seattle. Amazon has not posted the job in any other location, according to the Journal.

DC proposed the Anacostia Riverfront, NoMa-Union Station, Capitol Hill East and Shaw-Howard University. Northern Virginia sites could include Arlington-Alexandria and Fairfax-Loudoun Counties, while Maryland sites could include Montgomery County. A Baltimore area bid, which Gov. Larry Hogan first supported, didn't make the first round of cuts by Amazon.

The second Amazon headquarters will bring a potential 50,000 jobs to the selected location and invest over $5 billion. The finalists include: Los Angeles, New York, Newark, N.J., Boston, Miami, Dallas, Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, Chicago, Indianapolis, Montgomery County, Md.; Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, Raleigh, N.C. and Toronto.

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Story by Patch Editor Emily Leayman

(Photo: A portion of the sign advertising Amazon Go is seen outside the grocery store's location on June 16, 2017 in Seattle, Washington. Amazon announced that it will buy Whole Foods Market, Inc. for over $13 billion dollars. By David Ryder/Getty Images)