INDIANAPOLIS — The CEO of Fishers-based tech company ClearObject Inc. says central Indiana “dodged a bullet” by not getting the second headquarters for Amazon.
CEO John McDonald tells Inside Indiana Business that Amazon would have created economic and logistical problems for the area.
“Our home prices would’ve gone through the roof. Our transportation issues would’ve become crushing. We already have 1,000 open software development jobs in the city, that would get a lot worse and then we’ll be fighting Amazon for people to build our businesses,” says McDonald.
“The truth is, we want to grow our tech economy, we don’t want to have it taken over,” he said. “I know that’s a bit of a contrarian point of view, and I’m just as pleased and happy that we put a bid in and got this far up and I’m deeply grateful for all the people that put in all the time and energy to do that. But, I kind of think we dodged a bullet on this one and I think it’s probably best for our tech economy that we keep building it right here at home in Indiana and start building companies that are home-grown here that are Amazon companies,” McDonald says.
On Tuesday, Amazon formally announced it is splitting the coveted “HQ2” project between New York and the D.C. suburbs, while adding an East Coast operations hub in Nashville, Tennessee.
Indianapolis was among the top 20 finalists for landing Amazon’s second headquarters, which the company said it would create 50,000 new jobs and invest $5 billion over the next 20 years.
Photo: Getty Images / David Ryder
