Tucson Hopes to Spike Amazon's Consideration With a Giant Cactus
Tucson is making headlines with a gesture meant to spike their likability as a possible location for Amazon’s second headquarters. It comes in the form of a giant, 21-foot, $2,000 saguaro cactus, according to the AZ Daily Star.
With Amazon recently dropping the economic bombshell of a planned second headquarters, cities across the U.S. are scrambling to put together bids by the Oct. 19 deadline. Noticeably lacking what other cities can offer in the form of economic security and infrastructure, The Old Pueblo had to be creative in order to get noticed.
Still riding high after almost winning Tesla’s electric-car battery “gigafactory,” which ultimately went to Nevada last year, Tucson decided to vie for Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ attention by sending the cactus on a flatbed truck directly to Amazon headquarters in Seattle.
While the city and region will need to prove a lot more than its ability to transport cacti, it at least proves the city is willing to make bold moves to get noticed. Joe Snell, president and CEO of Sun Corridor, the Tucson region’s main economic-development agency, is currently working with state, regional, and local partners to determine what incentives, besides their obvious impressive flora, the city has to offer.
We’ll have to wait and see if Amazon decides to return the favor and plants themselves in Tucson.