Dan Gilbert
Cities like Boston, New York and Chicago have a lot going for them including a cosmopolitan environment and great public transportation. They're also more expensive to live and do business in.
Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert, assigned by Mayor Mike Duggan to lure a second Amazon headquarters, tells Chad Livengood of Crain's Detroit Business that there's plenty of good reasons for the gorilla-size online retailer to come here.
Gilbert, in a wide-ranging interview, says Detroit gives access to an educated international workforce from the Upper Midwest and Ontario in a transportation-oriented regional economy. Amazon would be able to draw computer engineering graduates from Ontario universities to fulfill a growing need for talent.
"You get a chance to come to a city that is not just a city but represents two countries," Gilbert says. "And those two countries have a vast and deep amount of talent and labor from Waterloo (Ontario) all the way to drawing from Chicago."
He also notes that offering his Bedrock office space would be easier for Amazon to access than trying to squeeze into more expensive and scarce real estate in Chicago, Boston and New York, which are also vying for the headquarters.
