Blacked Out Puerto Rico Makes Long-Shot Pitch for Amazon's 2nd HQ

It’s a long shot, but that didn’t stop Puerto Rican officials from taking time away from hurricane recovery efforts to bid for Amazon Inc.’s second headquarters.

The island recently submitted a proposal to establish an Amazon office, known as HQ2, at the site of the former Roosevelt Roads Naval Station in the eastern municipality of Ceiba, according to a text message Saturday from Ivan Caraballo Ortiz, a press official for Puerto Rico’s Economic Development and Commerce Department.

The vulnerability of the island’s energy grid could be a deal-breaker; most of Puerto Rico has been without electricity since Hurricane Maria barreled through a month ago. But the U.S. commonwealth desperately needs a big break to reverse a decade of economic decline, and the 50,000 high-paying jobs projected to come with Amazon’s HQ2, to be built at a cost of more than $5 billion, could drastically reverse its fortunes.

Amazon has said it will make a decision regarding its second home next year.