The joint Buffalo-Rochester bid for Amazon's new headquarters may have failed, but that doesn't mean there won't be any future investment from the e-tailor.
"(Amazon) said they were really impressed with where we are, the work ethic, (and) the fact that you can get around," Thomas Kucharski, CEO and President of Invest Buffalo Niagara, said.
Western New York took advantage of the bidding war to advertise itself as a place for future Amazon development. Lancaster already has a distribution center, and Kucharski said that facility could be a jumping off point for investments.
“(They) settled on New York as one of the places they are going. That will be the spinoff that we will be considered for other things,” Kucharski said.
Location is another asset in the region's favor.
"We're right down the road from Toronto...We are half way in between the Midwest and North East,” he said.
All that is speculation, though. There is no current evidence to suggest that Amazon is actively looking to invest in WNY.
To bring Amazon to New York City, the state gave the e-commerce giant major incentives. The Empire State Economic Development Fund is giving $1.7 billion in incentives to lure Amazon into picking New York.
Have a news tip, question or comment?
Take WKBW Everywhere, on all your devices. Download below!
Phone or Tablet: Apple, Android
Set-top Device: Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Alexa
Personalize your news, get the latest 7 First Alert Forecast, and watch 7 Eyewitness News video wherever, whenever.
Learn more here about what 7 Eyewitness News provides on all these devices.
