SLC could house Apple’s newest campus, Bloomberg speculates


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City could be a contender for Apple’s newest campus, according to a speculative list compiled by business news organization Bloomberg.

Apple announced plans for a fourth U.S. campus in January but hasn’t yet confirmed a location — though the multibillion-dollar tech company has said the project will not be in California or Texas.

Bloomberg compiled a short list of cities it believes may be in the running for the coveted campus, which would most likely bring in hundreds of high-skilled jobs.

Bloomberg considered several criteria while creating the list, including where Apple already has a strong presence, proximity to suppliers, local business conditions and costs, concentration of educated talent and adjacency to transportation hubs.

Unlike Amazon’s search for a second headquarters earlier this year, Apple has not issued a series of clear guidelines describing what it wants from a city. Bloomberg believes, however, that the company will most likely be looking for similar characteristics as the retail giant.

Salt Lake City made Bloomberg’s list of 15 cities that offer favorable tax incentives and a good local business environment, according to Moody’s Analytics. Denver, Colorado, Seattle, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, also made the list.

“Like most companies, Apple will surely expect such incentives in exchange for its investment. A major company such as Apple could transform a city by jump-starting its economy of schools, retail stores, restaurants and the housing market,” Bloomberg reports.

Bloomberg also listed Utah’s capital in a list of 15 cities with good public transportation, including a nearby airport — a necessity for Apple employees flying in from the company’s many U.S. offices.

Salt Lake City was not included, however, in Bloomberg’s list of cities that have the workforce education and human capital to house the campus.

“The cities were chosen because they emphasize bachelor’s degrees instead of advanced engineering degrees, which arguably fit better with Apple’s plans to recruit technical support people, rather than those working on products and operations,” Bloomberg reports.

The final list, however, favored northeastern states like Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and upstate New York; North Carolina and Florida in the southeast; and Midwestern states like Illinois and Wisconsin.

“The East Coast has one obvious advantage: the ability to provide customer support before existing call centers in Texas and California open for the day, as well as its proximity to hundreds of suppliers,” Bloomberg reports.

Related links

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahScience

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast