Thanks but No Thanks. How Little Rock Won by Saying No to Amazon

Stone Ward's contrary approach to HQ2 pays off

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Cities around the U.S. have been falling over themselves pitching themselves to Amazon as candidates for its second headquarters. But Little Rock, Arkansas, took a unique approach. Its response to the HQ2 RFP was gracious and clever, but fundamentally different than all the others.

Thanks but no thanks, Little Rock told Amazon.

The Little Rock Regional Chamber, responsible for business development in town, placed a full-page ad in the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post, styled as a breakup letter, gently explaining to Amazon why it would never work out between them.

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