Amazon Fever raged into Sault Ste. Marie's council chambers tonight, swiftly attacking the parietal lobes of Mayor Christian Provenzano and all 12 of our city councillors.
Council voted unanimously to become the latest North American city to enter the bidding melee for a $5 billion second headquarters for online retail giant Amazon, approving a resolution from Ward 3 Councillor Matthew Shoemaker and Ward 6's Ozzie Grandinetti.
The resolution calls on city staff and Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. to "review Amazon’s request for proposal documents for a second headquarters and submit a proposal to Amazon for Sault Ste. Marie to be the host city for their project."
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I am thrilled to be the mover of this motion and I hope that council will pass it unanimously this evening.
When Amazon announced a couple of weeks ago that they were looking for a location to host their second headquarters, I was as skeptical as the next person about the Sault's chances.
However, after speaking to my Ward 6 counterpart [Ozzie Grandinetti] after the RFP [request for proposals] came out, we talked through Amazon's RFP and were both convinced that that Sault would be an ideal location for this global giant.
I looked through Amazon's RFP and they talk about requirements, priorities and preferences.
On the requirement side they say they're going to need 100+ acres of property for a 500,000-square-foot building.
We've got this. The Innovation Centre and EDC have identified four sites in town, some privately owned, some government-owned, that fit this bill.
On the preferences side, they want access to mass transit at the site. We have this. At three of the prospective sites, we've already got it. At the other, it would take a couple minor changes to make it happen.
On the preferences side, Amazon wants to be within one to two miles of major arterial roads and highways.
We checked this box multiple times.
As a border community, the Twin Saults have links to both the U.S. interstate system and the Trans Canada Highway, right in the heart of our cities.
Only Windsor and Detroit can boast similar access to highways in both Canada and the U.S. and even then, the logjam at their borders affect delivery times.
And Windsor does not connect easily with western Canada and the midwestern United States, as Sault Ste. Marie does.
On the preferences side, Amazon wants proximity to international airports.
Again, we checked this box multiple times.
A quick Air Canada flight from Sault Ontario will connect you to Toronto, which can get you anywhere in the world.
Similarly, a quick Delta flight from Chippewa County will connect you to Detroit, from which you can get anywhere in the world.
It is, once again, a benefit that other communities cannot match.
Also on the preferences side, Amazon wants proximity to a population centre of more than a million.
Here, I say we've got it too.
Though we lack this one directly, we make up for it in other areas.
We've got this one because of our proximity to Detroit and Toronto, which means we have huge population centres a quick one-hour flight away.
It's better to fly one hour to a quick population centre than to be stuck two hours in traffic and not get anywhere.
Amazon has a commitment to sustainability here. Here once again, nobody can beat the Twin Saults.
In Sault Ontario, we are the alternative energy capital of North America.
In both cities, hydroelectric power keeps the lights on.
We've got enough wind and solar power and now power storage to keep the lights on in Sault Ste. Marie. Both sides.
We experience few power outages in Sault Ste. Marie than the rest of Ontario.
And when we do experience power outages, they are over more quickly than the rest of Ontario.
On the logistics side, Amazon needs to get people to it, and products out.
Again, I say we cannot be beat in this category.
Nobody can claim better access to the Great Lakes than the Twin Saults.
We are at the heart of the three upper Great Lakes.
We have access through shipping channels to 40 million North Americans.
We have rail access directly from Sault Ontario to Michigan and the U.S. Midwest.
We have rail access from Sault Ontario north, west and east.
We have access to the U.S. interstates and Canadian highway.
Name another city that checks all those boxes.
We can provide access to labour markets that others can only dream of.
We've got two universities and a great college minutes away from one another.
Lake State, Algoma U and Sault College can provide the education and training that Amazon needs.
In fact, Sault College just partnered with Microsoft to create what's expected to become a hundred jobs locally.
It has been done and it can be done again for Amazon.
On affordability, the Sault cannot be beat.
There are 250 homes for sale in Sault Michigan right now and the median price of those homes is US$75,000.
On the Ontario side there are 500 houses for sale. And the median price for those homes? $200,000 Canadian.
In fact, on the Canadian side, the most expensive house you can buy is $1.25 million.
That gets you a 3,000-square-foot home on three acres of waterfront land.
Try finding that in Toronto, Mr. Mayor!
Quality of life is important to Amazon.
Now bear with me, because we have so much in the quality of life department that this will take a minute.
Skiing and snowboarding at Searchmont.
Tourist attractions like the Agawa Canyon and Soo Locks Boat Tours.
Biking and recreational activities along the Hub Trail.
A pump track.
Hiking trails at Hiawatha and throughout the Algoma District.
Some of the best beaches around at Harmony Bay and Pointe des Chenes.
A major events centre with concerts and the Soo Greyhounds.
Community events like Rotaryfest and Downtown Days, and hopefully soon, Queen Street parties on weekend nights.
Some of the best boating around.
Canoeing and kayaking right from downtown.
Snowmobile trails all around us.
An art gallery, the Bushplane Museum, camping in every direction, hockey rinks everywhere, skateboard park, lots of community pools, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, horseback riding, tennis courts, pickleball courts, cricket league, an RC club and so much more.
Amazon is a company that's some 25 years old.
They're looking for a second headquarters for their next 50 to 100 years.
Here again, the Sault has the upper hand.
Popular Science put out an article earlier this year that said in the year 2100 Sault Ste. Marie Michigan will be the safest environment and climate in North America.
We will not be faced with hurricanes of the southern and eastern borders and the drought and the wildfires of the western borders or the tornados of the midwest.
We are ideally placed to provide safe and predictable weather for the company and their employees.
Though I will say, we get the occasional snowfall.
The naysayers will tell us that we aren't the type of city that can sustain a megacorporate headquarters.
How do those naysayers explain away the fact that the OLG [Ontario Lottery and Gaming] has been here since 1989 and brings in $2 billion in net revenues every year to the province?
I know I've been a few minutes, Mr. Mayor, but all this is to say: Don't just read the headlines and think it'll never happen.
Read the RFP and think: How can we make it happen?
That's what I hope to accomplish with this resolution.
And if we don't land Amazon's headquarters, at least we'll have made an honest effort to do so, and in the process who knows, we may entice other businesses to take a second look at Sault Ste. Marie.
While voting in favour of preparing an Amazon bid, Ward 1 Councillor Paul Christian showed signs of not quite swallowing all of the Shoemaker Kool Aid.
"Try to make a couple of phone calls to see how much being part of a metropolitan area weighs into the RFP," Christian advised.
"As much as I appreciate the enthusiasm and the vision, if it's something that's a game-breaker, then I wouldn't want to see anybody wasting too much time," Christian said.
Tongue firmly in cheek, Ward 1 Councillor Steve Butland responded to the Shoemaker presentation: "I suspect this is a slam dunk. After hearing that, the decision is probably made and the multitude of cities will probably consider dropping out."
More seriously, Butland added a cautionary point: "Academia and people in the business say once the RFP is out, oftentimes the decision has already been made."
Butland advised the city against putting all its economic development eggs in the Amazon basket. "Let's put something together quick-quick. Don't spend a lot of time, but put something together."
"If nothing else, you get attention. This is the little city that could."
Council agreed to appoint four city councillors to help staff work on the Amazon file: Shoemaker, Grandinetti, Ward 2's Susan Myers and Ward 1's Steve Butland.