After Thursday’s announcement that Hamilton did not make the short list for potential sites for the new Amazon headquarters, dubbed HQ2, it didn’t take long for social media critics to come out firing, claiming that the entire exercise was a waste of time and money for the city.
Hamilton spent about $470,000 putting its bid package together; about half of that was taxpayer’s money, the rest came from the private sector.
I had my doubts from the outset about the bid simply because Hamilton didn’t meet some of the minimum requirements laid out by Amazon, and if you don’t check off those boxes early in the process, the chances of success are reduced significantly.
Some suggest that we should have been part of the Toronto bid; maybe, but I can also understand the need for Hamilton to stand on its own and not always be a tag-along on Toronto’s pursuits.
So, was it money well spent?
Well, look at this way; if we want to be known as the Ambitious City again, we can and we must take a shot at the golden ring when the opportunity arises.
Missing out on Amazon is unfortunate, but to do nothing and wait for opportunity to come calling on Hamilton would be tragic.