Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – JP Morgan Chase cast a big vote of confidence in the D.C. metro area by announcing a major branch expansion, and regional leaders think that will encourage Amazon to follow suit and pick the area for its second headquarters.
“The more folks that decide that the Washington area is a place to invest and create jobs, the better. I’m sure Amazon’s gonna pay attention to that,” said Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
JP Morgan’s expansion includes opening up to 70 bank branches in the region, hiring 700 people to work at them, lending millions of dollars to small businesses and people who want to buy homes, and increasing lending to build affordable rental housing. The new branches opened in this area will be the first of hundreds opened in 15 to 20 new markets nationwide.
“I hope it will be an indicator that JP Morgan their first expansion of branch banking in decades, they’re choosing our region, that’s a pretty powerful comment,” said Sen. Mark Warner.
JP Morgan’s chair for the Mid-Atlantic Region Peter Scher said the Washington metropolitan area has the third largest economy in the U.S. with a $650 billion GDP and one of the most educated workforces in the nation.
“It’s the economic growth, and it’s the vibrancy of this region which made it clear to us that there was an opportunity to do even more,” Scher said.
Amazon has said it will announce the winning city for its second headquarters sometime in 2018.
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