Amazon.com Inc.’s unusual strategy for finding a location for a second headquarters apparently has worked.

Some 238 cities and regions submitted proposals to host the HQ, which Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said would be a full equal to its current home in Seattle (pictured). The retail and cloud computing giant announced in early September that it would spend more than $5 billion on the second HQ in North America, which would employ up to 50,000 people eventually.

The announcement had set off a frenzy among officials of many cities hoping for the economic boost the project would provide, which Amazon said would also include tens of thousands of other jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the region selected. The company didn’t say exactly when it would make a decision, but it has said it would do so sometime next year and start construction in 2019.

Amazon said 238 cities and regions in 54 states, provinces, districts and territories submitted proposals. Beyond states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, three Mexican states and six Canadian provinces weighed in. Some cities have been very public about their attempts to land HQ2, as Amazon calls it. New York City, where Bezos maintains a residence, turned the lights on landmarks and other venues to “Amazon orange.” Perhaps desperately, Stonecrest, Georgia, said it would create a “city of Amazon” within its borders. And Tucson, Arizona, sent a giant Saguaro cactus to Amazon.

On the other hand, seven states didn’t bother, perhaps understandably given their likely small chance of winning: Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Arkansas, Vermont, and Hawaii.

The company has issued a number of requirements for the development. The city must be in a metropolitan area with a population of more than 1 million, appeal to tech professionals and offer a “stable and business-friendly environment,” which no doubt will need to include substantial tax breaks or other financial benefits. Newark, New Jersey, for instance, proposed a package that could total $7 billion over a decade.

Not only is it unusual and perhaps unprecedented for a company to open an entirely new, co-equal headquarters, it’s also unusual for the company to undertake the search process itself rather than hiring consultants to find favorable spots.

Amazon essentially is saying it can foresee a time when it will run out of room and, probably more important, affordable talent in Seattle, forcing it to find a place where thousands of engineers and others can settle down. The company’s workforce has ballooned to some 40,000 over the past 10 years.

Staffers will be given a choice between staying in Seattle, relocating, or working at both locations. Amazon has said the average pay for a job in the new location would be about $100,000.

Photo: Amazon