Jim Saksa, PlanPhilly’s multi-modal transportation reporter and interim managing editor, reported on Amazon’s announcement that the company plans to build a second headquarters and how Philly wants in. In the article, Tracey Welson-Rossman,TechGirlz founder and CMO of Chariot Solutions, discusses why Philadelphia is a good fit for Amazon to relocate its headquarters. The full article, titled “Amazon HQ2 RFP asks for just one bid per region, so Philly submits three,” was originally published on Plan Philly’s website on September 21, 2017.

Tracey Welson-Rossman hasn’t just watched as Philadelphia’s tech scene has grown from its infancy two decades prior. She’s been one of its mothers, nurturing and guiding its growth. To Welson-Rossman, the strength of Philadelphia’s tech scene comes from its collaborative spirit, and an ability to work together. Noting how many major Philadelphia tech employers are actually located just outside city limits, Welson-Rossman emphasized the importance for everyone to come together to entice Amazon.

“We need big thinking in our region, this is a big project,” she said. “This allows us to push and think bigger and let ourselves think that we deserve this, as a region.”

Welson-Rossman emphasized repeatedly the importance of working collectively, as a region, rather than letting jurisdictional spats undermine the bid. So when she heard that Philly, Camden and Wilmington were all working on their own, separate Amazon bids, she let out an exasperated sigh.

“The region should come together, that’s all I have to say.”

It’s an echo of something Philadelphia’s most famous tech entrepreneur, Benjamin Franklin, once said : “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”