Study Predicts Bonanza If Amazon HQ2 Comes To Montgomery County

ROCKVILLE, MD — If Amazon opens its second headquarters in Montgomery County, the project could benefit all of Maryland by creating 101,000 jobs and bringing $17 billion per year in economic activity and $7.7 billion in annual wages. That's according to a recent study commissioned by the county and the state's Department of Commerce.

Montgomery County is one of 20 finalists selected by the online retail giant to be the home of its second headquarters. Based in Seattle, Amazon plans to invest $5 billion in what it calls HQ2, which promises to create 50,000 high-paying jobs.

The county faces stiff competition, as the other contenders include major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Indianapolis. Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia also made the cut.

To strengthen Montgomery County's bid, Gov. Larry Hogan is offering a $5 billion incentive plan, according to media reports. It includes $3 billion in grants and tax incentives and $2 billion in road, transit and related improvements.

Montgomery Executive Ike Leggett and other county leaders have kept quiet on where, exactly, HQ2 would be built if Amazon chooses MoCo. Reports by WJLA-TV Channel 7 and other media outlets have suggested that the county is offering White Flint Plaza in North Bethesda, but county leaders won't comment on specific sites.

HQ2 would generate $280 million in tax receipts for Montgomery County each year and $483 million in annual state tax receipts, according to the economic impact study, conducted by Baltimore-based Sage Policy Group Inc.

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“This study makes it crystal clear that it is very much in the public interest for Montgomery County and the State of Maryland to attract a company like Amazon with a proven track record of making a difference,” Leggett said in a statement.

As HQ2 is being built in the county, it would support another 50,000 jobs, pay nearly $3 billion in wages, and spur nearly $7.4 billion in business sales, says the study, released last week. Tax revenues during construction are projected to exceed $110 million at the county level and $190 million at the state level.

HQ2's other benefits to Maryland would include more activity at the Port of Baltimore and more international travel through BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, the study says. To read the Sage Policy Group report, click here.

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