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Watch: As Amazon HQ2 deadline looms, Philly touts logistics, talent, livability

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It’s the final countdown!

In less than 24 hours, Philly and a whole bunch of other places throughout the country will submit their proposals to convince Amazon to bring its $5 billion second headquarters and estimated 50,000 jobs to their respective cities.

Tons of cities have gone to great lengths to convince Amazon that they’re the best pick: A Georgia town said it will change its name to Amazon if the e-commerce giant sets up shop there. Birmingham, Alabama set up a bunch of ginormous Amazon boxes around its city.

Philly, which could actually be a top contender, took to the actual internet, launching a three-day video campaign that touted three main reasons why #PhillyDelivers for Amazon HQ2: Its logistics, workforce talent, and livability.

The videos were created by Leveler Media and feature the likes of everyone from Urban Outfitters’ chief talent officer Matt Strode to the CEO and co-founder of La Colombe, Todd Carmichael.

The videos are just “first taste” of what Philly will be pitching in the actual proposal it will submit to Amazon tomorrow, October 19, said Skai Blue Media’s Rakia Reynolds, who led the creative components of Philly’s bid.

Apu Gupta, CEO and co-founder of Curalate highlighted Philly’s location and how easy it is to get from point A to point B:

The Philadelphia Airport is a 15-minute Uber from here. It’s incredibly convenient and it gets me anywhere I need to go, almost always non-stop.

While URBN’s Strode made the pitch for Philly’s talent:

What you see and what we’ve seen in the last two and a half to three years is a kind of creative and highly innovative talent pool. [...] Philly’s got that in abundance.

When it comes to Philly’s livability, Yards Brewing Company’s COO Trevor Pritchett had this to say:

Being able to live in these wonderful historic neighborhoods and hop on your bike and be in a brewery production plant within 5-10 minutes is something that’s just really unique to Philadelphia.

(Side note: It’s nice to see IM Pei’s Society Hill Towers make a cameo.)

Pitches are due to Amazon on Thursday, October 19. Stay tuned.