HARRISBURG, Pa. - The Harrisburg Regional Chamber and CREDC, in partnership with the Dauphin County Redevelopment Authority, submitted the area's bid for Amazon's highly-touted second headquarters.
In a news conference Thursday afternoon, the groups announced they submitted the bid earlier this week.
The bid is the end product of an effort by dozens of staffers and community leaders that lasted months in an attempt to lure Amazon and its promised 50,000 jobs and billions of dollars in economic impact.
"We would ask for things [and] we got one day turnaround on things," said David Black, the chamber's president and CEO. "The response has been absolutely superb from all the local partners."
Although the area might not be the first place you would think of for such a facility, there are plenty of local leaders who think the bid just might work because of what the area has to offer.
"It's amenities, it's a quality of life, it is the diversity of the population, it is being able to access other areas," said Jackie Parker, executive director of Harrisburg's department of community and economic development.
The bid experience has given the community the ability to find its voice and share its story with the world.
"What it's done for our community is to help us focus on what we have here in central Pennsylvania, take stock of some of the assets we had, and they truly are tremendous," said Frank Lynch, a member of the Dauphin County Redevelopment Authority and the Susquehanna Township Board of Commissioners, as well as interim township manager for Lower Swatara Township.
Now the waiting process begins to find out who submitted the successful bid for Amazon.
"We're coming back to what we were meant to be," said Jeff Haste, president of the Dauphin County Board of Commissioners. "We are meant to be the hub not only of Pennsylvania, but of the Mid-Atlantic region, and this is a game changer. This would make that happen."
Other submitted bids from Pennsylvania include Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Scranton, and Allentown, according to the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
Amazon is expected to select a location in early 2018.