Two Kankakee power players say that while Chicago might have big shoulders, Kankakee has big dreams.
One of those dreams is landing Amazon's new North American headquarters, and Rep. Lindsay Parkhurst (R-Kankakee) and Kankakee County Board Chairman Andy Wheeler recently announced that they are trying to make it happen with a request for proposal (RFP) turned in separate from Chicago's.
“The Governor submitted a Chicago only proposal for the State’s RFP for Amazon HQ2," Parkhurst and Wheeler said in the release. "We respect the Governor’s decision, but are not letting this discourage us. The Kankakee County RFP is an inspired, inventive, imaginative, and innovative plan quite different from most submissions. Chairman Wheeler and Kankakee County presented a visionary, comprehensive, and conceptual plan for Amazon H2Q. Our RFP thinks outside the box.”
Amazon anticipates investing roughly $5 billion in its HQ2 project, which the company claims could grow to be as large and influential as its primary headquarters in Seattle. In addition to company positions, the project could create numerous jobs though construction and maintenance of the facility, according to Amazon. The company currently has about 380,000 employees worldwide.
Alerts Sign-up