Markham claims it will be the home of Amazon's new headquarters
Fake it till you make it, right? Wrong? Worth a try? We'll see.
The City of Markham, like every other city in North America, wants to be the home of Amazon's new $5 billion headquarters (and the estimated 50,000 high-paying jobs it'll create.)
As one of 10 cities that joined Toronto in its bid for the highly-coveted, yet-to-be-built HQ2 campus, it's not an impossible wish.
Anything is Possible with the international talent pool here in #Markham Most diverse city in #Canada High percentage of Post-Secondary educated workforce #chooseMarkham pic.twitter.com/y897RrFRIq
— Mayor Frank Scarpitti (@frankscarpitti) May 7, 2018
Toronto remains one of just 20 cities chosen out of 238 bids for the Seattle-based e-commerce giant's second North American headquarters, alongside Atlanta, Boston, Washington, Austin and other strong U.S. contenders.
It might be a long shot, but the GTA does have a lot to offer in terms of our tech industry and labour market.
Markham is trying to highlight this as part of the city's wider "innovation week" right now with a series of bright orange signs that appear to bill it as the home of HQ2.
May 7 to 13 has officially been proclaimed "Innovation Week in the City of Markham"! Markham is in the heart of Ontario's innovation corridor with more than 1,500 high-tech companies creating 37,000 jobs.
— City of Markham (@cityofmarkham) May 3, 2018
Tell us, why do YOU #ChooseMarkham?
A city spokesperson told the Canadian Press on Monday that 23 signs have been installed around the city.
"Home of Amazon HQ2" they read in bold black type.
Upon closer inspection, a silver "Possible" is scrawled in the top left corner. Very clever, Markham.
Markham is a part of the Toronto-wide bid for @amazon's HQ2. We are proud to be a part of the bid which demonstrates our strength as a region to compete globally. Need more reasons to #ChooseMarkham? Visit https://t.co/FyqcrVQinZ. pic.twitter.com/z7znMXH1AO
— Mayor Frank Scarpitti (@frankscarpitti) May 7, 2018
Sincere as the gimmick may be, Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti says its all part of larger campaign to highlight the city's booming tech scene and attract new business.
"We are part of the innovation corridor," he said to CBC about the #ChooseMarkham campaign. "We are outperforming Kitchener-Waterloo in technology, we are outperforming Ottawa."
He wrote similarly on Twitter early Monday morning that "anything is possible with the international talent pool here in Markham."
