A Prime Idea: Dayton Area Universities Promise To Partner With Amazon

By: Carley Roberts – Contributing Writer

The possibility of Dayton area college students being nearby Amazon’s second headquarters in the future just got a bit higher.

The presidents of University of Dayton, Wright State University, Sinclair College and Clark State Community College pledged to partner with Amazon in the efforts to convince the company to build their second headquarters in southwest Ohio.

Amazon has received 238 proposals from cities and jurisdictions across North America, all places hoping they will become the place for the company’s second home, HQ2.  

The presidents from each school signed a letter to Amazon president and CEO Jeff Bezos. The letter stated the Dayton region has 23 colleges and universities, which they considered”some of the best” in the world.

UD, Sinclair, Clark State and WSU have been working together to promote the region by developing workforce programs, training and educational initiatives, also stated in the letter.
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“Together, we partner with top thought leaders worldwide to provide innovative, world-class education to senior executives, emerging thought leaders and front-line supervisors and professionals,” the letter states. “We absolutely pledge to do the same for Amazon.”

Shelley Dickstein, The Dayton City Manager, states the city was part of a regional project proposal led by the Dayton Development Coalition and the city shared data with Cincinnati that she says focuses on the strengths of both cities.

Jeff Hoagland, Dayton Development Coalition President and CEO, stated  Dayton and Cincinnati did not submit a joint proposal. Hoagland said there was early discussions about Dayton and Cincinnati submitting a proposal together, but was instead decided to submit separate proposals for each region.

Since Dayton is considered the midpoint between Cincinnati and Columbus, Hoagland said that information was noted in the proposal, along with Dayton’s “rich resources” it could offer.
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Photo courtesy of Amazon Press Room.