Giving Compass' Take:

• Although many cities will not make the cut, Aaron Ren outlines five lessons cities and regions can learn from the search frenzy for Amazon's second headquarters. 

• Ren says that it's important not to get distracted by these 'big, sexy deals' and that investing in local businesses and organizations is what will help spur economic growth.  How helpful or harmful will Amazon headquarters be for the city they decide to move into?

•  Read about the controversial ways that cities offer tax benefits to big corporations possibly moving in without being the most transparent. 

The epic feeding frenzy set off by Amazon’s search for a second headquarters has been unprecedented, not just among the cities and regions bidding for the prize, but also among journalists and analysts covering the event.   Once Amazon makes its choice, the world of economic development will move on. Still, there are some important lessons one can take away from this process.

First, tax incentives and other giveaways are here to stay. Many people have decried the immense public subsidies that communities and regions have offered to Amazon.  But let’s be realistic: For deals like this, it’s essentially impossible for cities and states to resist.

Second, talent is still king. Amazon’s selection of 20 finalists was heavily driven by where the company believed it could readily find the talent it needs to fill 50,000 high-paying white-collar jobs.  This includes huge cities with large labor forces, but also smaller cities that have been developing the kind of talent Amazon might want to hire.

Third, only a limited number of cities will win big in tech. There were 238 entrants for Amazon’s HQ2. But even if the company ends up putting facilities in multiple cities -- a definite possibility as it is already expanding in places like Boston and New York -- most of the finalists are going to end up as losers in this competition.

Fourth, mature corporations are becoming the drivers of tech. The image of a tech company may be as a startup in a garage, but gigantic, mature technology firms like Apple, Facebook and Google increasingly dominate today’s Silicon Valley.

And finally, don’t get too focused on the huge, sexy deals. It’s understandable why cities and states went hog wild over HQ2. But most of the growth in a local economy is going to come from existing businesses.

Read the full article about Amazon headquarters search by Aaron M. Renn at Governing Magazine