Dare To Dream

By
Craig Huckerby
-
14

For those who buy lottery tickets, winning the jackpot is what dreams are made of and in a sense, Sault Ste. Marie just bought itself a ticket in a 5 billion dollar lottery, otherwise known as Amazon HQ2 and the odds of winning are pretty good as just 1 out of 100.

As earlier reported on SaultOnline.com, the city officially  made a bid this week to Amazon to become home to their 2nd headquarters and the 50,000 jobs that go with it.  “It’s a 5 billion dollar investment, It would change Sault Ste. Marie” Matthew Shoemaker said as he sat down for an on-camera interview about the bid. Shoemaker spearheaded the initiative and got council’s approval to move forward – despite it being a long shot.

Councillor Shoemaker is well aware that the Sault is the underdog competing with 99 other cities such as Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles to name a few.  You can view a digital copy and share on social media by going to http://www.amazonnorth.ca

Shoemaker talks with SaultOnline.com about the bid, what’s in it and what kind of impact winning Amazon HQ2 would have on this area and why this bid could be one of many more to come.


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14 COMMENTS

  1. Yes. Embarrassment. That about sums it up. I certainly would not want this lawyer grandstanding for me in front of a jury. Yikes. He should crawl out of the hamlet, go live in a few other real cities, so he can learn what true international city amenities look like. This proposal will not even be looked at since it did not fit most of the criteria. The hamlet’s reputation is already created…this just confirmed it. Other efforts will suffer the same fate. Shut down the EDC, save some tax dollars, wind up this mercantile effort that Clergue and others began over a century ago. The only thing keeping this place alive now, is other people’s hard-earned tax dollars through gov’t wasted spending. Get it through your head, Mr. MS…there are very few young or middle-aged people that want to live up here, suffer through 40 weeks of non-summer weather, leave occasionally to go shopping, and (give your head a shake) even remotely consider investing private money in a business venture that might pay real taxes.

    • Seems doesn’t matter what the City does, there will always be ones that can’t see the big picture because they are too full of negativity…Glad you’re not on council Bernie

      • if the city posted a job or a RFP would they look at every submission or just the ones that met their qualifications/criteria? I see the Soo more suited to an amazon distribution centre than than HQ2. Did the city check to see if submitted this RFP would undermine them in any future bids? Also I checked the current job openings at amazon. Most of the ones I clicked on required a masters with a PhD preferred. Now although the Soo has post secondary institutions does it have the programs Amazon is looking for to meet its staffing/development needs? Since the Soo can’t meet the population/staffing requirements where will these 50000 people come from? Will it cause HR concern to try and relocate that many people from their friends and families when other sites would allow for the majority of workers to commute from where they currently are? Does the Soo have the infrastructure or strategic growth plan in place (like some competing centres that meet the criteria) to support such mass migration. When this housing, roads, transportation, services is to be put in place who will foot the bill? As to the quality of life the Golden Horseshoe has quick access to hiking, fishing, skiing, etc and proximity for all criteria for the RFP. If this is the tipping point argument why wasn’t lottery convinced years ago to relocate all their positions to the Soo? I do see a lot of potential for the Sault to grow and prosper but I see the Amazon initiative as a headline grabber by someone we may see in a few years run for a higher political office and use this failed attempt as the feather in the cap to say look what I tried to do for you instead of focusing on the many missed opportunities that are still attainable.

  3. Keep in mind that this initiative was fully endorsed by city council…it is NOT just a Shoemaker proposal. and this may help us attract others looking for a great place to set up shop.
    I often here sooites saying that our council is not forward thinking..that they want to keep things the way they are. Now we have an option worth exploring and some folks are upset with that. At least for now we are in the running like every other city.

  5. I have yet to see someone report on how much taxpayer money was blown on this fantasy that isn’t going to happen.
    No more unnecessary grandstanding please Mr. Shoemaker you are not doing the city an favors with this behavior, just the opposite.

  6. THEY WANT 50, 000 EMPLOYEES AND AN URBAN AREA WITH 1,000,000 + PPL.
    ARE SOO PPL THAT STUPID???
    LETS HAVE THE WHOLE CITY QUIT THERE JOBS, AND GO WORK AT AMAZON….
    I FEEL VERY BAD FOR THOSE WHO DONT THINK THIS IS JUST A PR STUNT FOR SHOEMAKER….

    HE IS OBVIOUSLY AN EAST END ELITIST WHO HEAD IS IN THE CLOUDS AND IS NOT CONNECTED TO THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH HE LIVES…

  7. We have nothing to lose with this attempt and lots to potentially gain. It is worth the effort and is a good practice for future attempts to attract companies here.

    • I’m afraid we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
      It is not worth the effort and will only give this tiny city a black eye, totally disregarding Amazon’s criteria for his own pr trip.
      Mr. Shoemaker needs to move to Toronto or some other large city and do his grandstanding there. A total waste of time and taxpayer money, next time be realistic before you open your trap and embarrass the city.

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