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Amazon eyeing next location for HQ2; St. Louis is in the running

Local and state leaders are already working on proposals to try to win Amazon over.

Amazon gave 5 On Your Side an inside look at their fulfillment center in Edwardsville, Illinois. The 700,000-square-foot facility opened in August of 2016 and employs more than 1,500 people. (Photo by jimmy Bernhard, KSDK-TV)

Amazon is eyeing its next location for its second headquarters in North America and St. Louis is in the running. Local and state leaders are already working on proposals to try to win Amazon over.

On Thursday, Amazon announced its plans to invest $5 billion in construction and its new headquarters will offer as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs.

"For Amazon, St. Louis is the perfect place for them to locate because of our central location, the river, the rails, that all come through here," said the CEO of St. Louis Economic Development Partnership, Sheila Sweeney.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson and St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger, are putting together a team to offer a competitive bid.

"I think that it's transformational like so many other projects that we're working on,” Sweeney said.

“It's an incredible number of jobs and amount of investment and so we're really excited and will work hard to win it,” she added.

Governor Eric Greitens unveiled his plans for work force development Thursday afternoon in downtown St. Louis. While he didn’t explicitly reference Amazon’s latest announcement, he did talk about his plans to hire skilled workers and build Missouri businesses.

"The message that we've sent to CEOs and to business leaders and to business builders all over the state, all over the country and for many all over the world, is that Missouri is open for business and we will find a way to work with you,” Greitens said.

Amazon is looking for a metropolitan city near a major highway, one that is close to an international airport with daily direct flights to several major U.S. cities. It’s open to developing existing buildings or building new ones. The corporation also wants a place where its employees will enjoy living.

Amazon is looking to make a quick decision on a location and a date to start construction. Interested cities have until October 19th to submit a request for proposal.

Photos: Inside Amazon's Edwardsville fulfillment center

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