Whither Amazon?

For those tracking every turn of the speculative screw in Amazon’s quest to identify a new site for its second headquarters, it’s been a busy 10 days. News broke the day before the midterm elections that the e-commerce giant has altered its initial plan in favor of splitting more than 50,000 employees between two cities, in part because of concerns over being able to find enough talent in a single location. Austin, at various points rumored to be among the top three contenders for HQ2, now appears to have fallen back in the pack while the Queens borough of New York City and Crystal City, Virginia, are reportedly in advanced talks to finalize deals for the multibillion-dollar projects. The components of Austin’s bid to land HQ2 (or should we call it HQ3 now?) have been closely guarded by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, which has led the bid process since the competition opened last year. A final decision from the company is expected before the end of the year.