UM System Strongly Supports State of Missouri's Amazon Proposal

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Today, Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens submitted a proposal to attract Amazon’s expansion to Missouri and challenged the retail giant “to envision what it could achieve by partnering with us to unleash the combined strength of the entire state.” In the proposal, which encourages Amazon to make full use of the state’s I-70 corridor, the University of Missouri System and its four campuses are highlighted for their vital roles in innovation and educating the necessary workforce for the future. The link to the proposal can be found here.

UM System President Mun Choi said the state’s largest and most comprehensive research university system strongly supports Greitens’ proposal to attract Amazon’s expansion in Missouri.  

“I know that the 76,000 students, more than 23,000 faculty and staff and the more than 650,000 alumni will support this initiative to create an innovation ecosystem in the state,” Choi said. “This is an outstanding proposal, and we’re very excited to be a part of the state of Missouri’s proposal to create an innovation corridor from St. Louis to Kansas City by way of Columbia that benefits the entire state of Missouri. Attracting Amazon to the state of Missouri at this time in our history will transform our economic, housing, health, communication and transportation infrastructure, leading to more innovations and high paying job growth in the Show Me State. Our campuses are dedicated to preparing future leaders who can meet Amazon’s unique workforce needs. We join Gov. Eric Greitens in support of this innovative proposal to secure Amazon’s new headquarters.”

Last month, Amazon announced that it intends to build a second headquarters—Amazon HQ2 —in North America. The company expects to invest more than $5 billion in construction and grow this second headquarters to include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. Amazon issued a “request for proposals” for those hoping to attract the new headquarters.

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