Assets offered by Toronto for Amazon

Amazon.com, Inc. which is also known as Amazon is a cloud computing and e-commerce company in America. The company is based in Seattle in Washington and was founded in the year 1994 by Jeff Bezos. The online retail is one of the largest in the world in terms of their sales and is used by millions of people worldwide. Amazon has gone through many changes in the past few years, most of which has contributed to their immense growth. They have always strived to maintain their position in the retail sector with the development of strategic decisions. Amazon has an approximate net sales of 178 billion U.S. dollar as calculated in the year 2017. Their excellent variety of products and prompt customer service has also acted as an additional factor for their growth and establishment in the electronic commerce sector. Amazon employs around 566,000 in recent times all around the world. In the month of September, 2017, Amazon announced about their plans to build a second headquarters with around a million people in a metropolitan area. Several cities have been shortlisted for the place where the new headquarters would be built. Several cities had to submit their presentations explaining the reasons that would lead Amazon to choose them by the 19the of October, 2017. Toronto is one of the chosen cities where Amazon might build their HQ2. This report will discuss about the different assets that Toronto would be able to offer Amazon along with the costs and benefits of building HQ2 in the city. A conclusion of the reasons which would attract Amazon to build HQ2 in the city will also be provided.     

There are many assets that are provided by Toronto which can be beneficial for Amazon. The city is highly inclined towards building the necessary and important infrastructure both of physical and social nature which would be beneficial for the city and its people. The city also maintains their already existent infrastructure so they are always in good shape and does not possess any harm for the people of the city. The existing infrastructure of Toronto amounts to over $76 billion which includes, roads, libraries, parks, transit, water & sewer facilities, community centres and other things. These assets that are present in the city will help in the delivering of many services which would be beneficial for the city itself and the people who reside in it. The assets of the city are funded in different ways such as from taxes and from different levels of the government. The government of the country are of the most supportive aspects of the budding assets of the country which would be beneficial for Amazon, as receiving the support of the government is a very important part of any new initiative. There is a huge area of land in the city which would make it easy for Amazon to search for the perfect land to build their new headquarters. The city aims to improve their fiscal position in the future by improving their performance based on the new assets and the existing ones that are present in the city.

Costs of Toronto

Toronto is an expensive city where there will be several costs that would be incurred by the people who would try to build a new infrastructure in the city. There are different services that are offered by the city often 24 hours a day all week which makes to quite expensive for the city to bear it without increasing the expenses that would be done by the people. The cost of the different services that are delivered by the city often amounts to more than $12 billion. This is the reason that the city can be deemed as an expensive city since along with the growing demands of the people of the city, they would also have to cater to their needs by increasing the value and nature of the services that are provided. Every year, the cost increases due to the growing cost of the city in delivering the services that would keep the people of the city satisfied and happy. A lot more money is required by the city to cater to the growing demands of the people and the businesses which operate in the city. For Amazon, this would mean that they would have to establish their new headquarters at a high expense as compared to building it in any other city. This could be a disadvantage if another city provides a much lesser budget to the company. However, despite the huge expense the company provides round the clock services to the people and this could be beneficial for the company since they will be able to provide the best of the services to the people and worldwide.      

There have been other big brands such as Uber and Google who have opened their research centres in Toronto, therefore, the city can also be a choice for Amazon for their second headquarters. There are many benefits that could be availed by Amazon if they build their headquarters in the city. Firstly, Amazon has been searching for a city which consists of more than a million people and where different infrastructure such as a strong educated workforce, international airport, a good climate for business and mass transit. Toronto has all the above mentioned criteria available for the setting up of the new headquarters. The huge population of the city is benefited from the infrastructure and the transportation facilities which is provided by the city. Moreover, Toronto would be able to provide Amazon with their required area of land that has been demanded by them. Along with the huge land that Toronto is able to provide, they would also be able to give a knowledgeable workforce which would help Amazon to grow and expand their business of the new headquarters in an efficient and able manner. There are several research centres which are present in Toronto which could be of benefit to the company and promises and huge mass of educated people who could provide beneficial inputs for the welfare of the company. Among all the other cities in the United States, Toronto would be one of the cities who would be able to meet all the criteria that is required by Amazon.        

Conclusion

Hence, it can be said that Toronto would be able to provide the best services in terms of Amazon building their new headquarters in the city. Even though there would be other cities who would be able to provide similar services to Amazon if they opt to building their new headquarters in any other city, however, Toronto has a huge mass of people which could be of importance and benefit to the company since the major requirement had been a huge workforce who are educated and knowledgeable. The strong population and the infrastructure of the city would be able to contribute to the growth and the budding business of Amazon and ensure that building the new headquarters in the city had been a fruitful decision. Toronto is also different from the other cities of the United States in terms of their diversity in culture, their highly technologically advanced community and the immense support that they receive from the local government. All these factors are very important during the initiation of any new business. Therefore, it can be said that choosing Toronto as a new city for building the new headquarters of Amazon would be a fruitful decision.

References:

Amazon.com, ‘Amazon.Com: Online Shopping For Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, Dvds & More’ (Amazon.com, 2018) <https://www.amazon.com/> accessed 14 November 2018

Businessinsider.in, ‘Here’s Why Jeff Bezos Should Pick Toronto For Amazon’s Next HQ’ (Businessinsider.in, 2018) <https://www.businessinsider.in/Heres-why-Jeff-Bezos-should-pick-Toronto-for-Amazons-next-HQ/articleshow/60485915.cms> accessed 14 November 2018

Huffingtonpost.ca, ‘Amazon Wants A 2Nd Headquarters. Toronto Has What It Takes’ (Huffingtonpost.ca, 2018) <https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/dr-steven-murphy/amazon-wants-a-2nd-headquarters-toronto-has-what-it-takes_a_23209229/> accessed 14 November 2018

Toronto.ca, ‘City Of Toronto’ (Toronto.ca, 2018) <https://www.toronto.ca/> accessed 14 November 2018

Usatoday.com (Usatoday.com, 2018) <https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/09/12/timeline-amazons-search-hq-2-its-second-headquarters/1273275002/> accessed 14 November 2018