Connecticut Off the List for Second Amazon Headquarters

Connecticut is out of the running to be home to the second Amazon headquarters.

The 238 proposals across North America included proposals for Hartford, Stamford, Waterbury, Danbury and a joint bid for New Haven and Bridgeport and Amazon announced the 20 finalists Thursday. That list does not include any Connecticut cities or towns.

"While it’s certainly disappointing that Amazon didn’t choose Connecticut as a potential future site for its HQ2 proposal, we remain committed to working with business leaders throughout the world and right here at home to grow jobs in our state,” Gov. Dannel Malloy said in a statement.

Local officials said the feedback from Amazon, however, was good.

"We were pleased to hear that Amazon was complimentary of our ideas and proposal as a whole," Stamford Mayor David Martin said in a statement. "While we are proud knowing that our City met and exceeded the rigid criteria the State and Amazon set for proposals, we are obviously disappointed we were not selected. It is apparent in the list of the 20 finalists that Amazon was seeking a larger metropolitan area than Stamford. The process of putting together this proposal for Amazon highlighted ways that we can increase job opportunities in Stamford, and teach our next generation skills for 21st-century jobs that will make Stamford more competitive the next time a major company is considering relocating its headquarters to Stamford."

New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart said local officials will continue to work to make the city as business-friendly as possible.

"We are disappointed that New Britain, or any other city in Connecticut, was not selected as a possible location for Amazon’s HQ2. This begs a bigger question: What do we have to do to make ourselves competitive once again? Here in New Britain, we will continue working hard to make our City as business friendly as possible and build on our successes to continue making New Britain a hub of manufacturing and innovation," Stewart’s statement says.

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Malloy said the feedback was "positive," but Connecticut did not have a “large enough metropolitan area for this particular proposal.”

"Connecticut remains a tremendous place to do business, as demonstrated by CVS/Aetna’s recent commitment to Hartford and by the countless companies both large and small who are proud to call Connecticut home," Malloy said. "We will continue to highlight our tremendous strengths while recognizing the need to focus on investing in our cities to maintain the progress we have made in making Connecticut a more attractive place to live and work. That includes fixing our transportation system – one of the top concerns for businesses looking to move to our state."

Amazon said it will make a final selection sometime this year.

Here is the full list of areas being considered: