Bids From "the Six": Toronto Mayor Makes His Case for Amazon's HQ2
Lyft made its first move abroad this week, expanded its car-hailing service to Toronto. Mayors from the metro area joined Cheddar to talk about why the city is so business-friendly and to make their case for why Amazon should choose it for its HQ2.
The city was one of more than 230 to submit a bid for the tech giant's next headquarters. Toronto's John Tory and Bonnie Crombie, mayor of sister city Mississauga, tout the region's potential talent pool and relaxed immigration policies.
Canada as a country has been very open to welcoming immigrant entrepreneurs within its borders, granting permanent residence to those who attain a “Start-up Visa.” The government website states that the program connects founders with companies that can offer guidance and support in building their businesses. Candidates, though, do need to be backed by angel investors or Canadian venture capitalist groups.
But there are plenty of potential benefits for those who apply. Tory and Crombie both emphasize Canada's strong economic growth, low taxes, and quality of life.
“We know we need that talent and the companies they want to invest in. The Toronto region needs that talent,” Tory said. He adds that the new Visa program allows companies to bring software engineers from overseas to Canada in just two weeks. “It’s working quite well.”
Another incentive? Home rental prices are low in comparison to the United States. But the Canadian market faces some housing supply challenges amid the influx of immigrants.
Crombie said that to combat this issue the city of Mississauga works to “attract more investments and incentivize the development of middle-class housing stock.”
Amazon plans to start construction on a new headquarters somewhere in North America next year. The company says it will invest $5 billion in the project, which will create 50,000 new jobs. And cities are pulling out the stops to be selected.
Many are offering tax incentives, but others are going a step further. The mayor of Stonecrest, Georgia said his city would carve out a section of the town and name it Amazon, a move he says would add perpetual value to the brand. And Arizona's economic development group, Sun Corridor, even sent Amazon a 21-foot cactus as a gift if it got the nod.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
