Housing wasn’t an issue.
It came down to talent.
Amazon reached out to Detroit leaders Thursday to say that an insufficient talent pool in the region was the main reason why Detroit didn’t make Amazon’s short list of finalists for its second headquarters.
Sandy Baruah, president and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, was among those on the phone call with Amazon and reported that Amazon said Detroit almost but not quite made the list of 20 finalists.
“The creativity, the regional collaboration, the quality of the bid document, the international partnership with Windsor, all of that got incredibly high marks,” Baruah said in recounting Amazon’s feedback.
“But this is the NFL. Economic development at this level, it ain’t beanbag,” Baruah said. “We were good but we weren’t good enough on the talent front.”
Detroit’s lack of a robust regional transit network also hurt, but wasn’t pivotal.
“My takeaway, yeah, regional transit played a role. Was it the defining role? No, I think talent was the defining role in us not making the list,” Baruah said.