Austin, like 238 other North American cities, submitted a proposal to host Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters, but in a process that city officials have largely kept confidential, many wonder what Austin offered to distinguish itself. Austin has chosen not to tip its hand and has kept information about the bid confidential. Luke Sheffield, a spokesperson for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce—the entity that submitted the bid—said he is confident Austin will grab Amazon’s attention without all the “bells and whistles.” “To quote ‘The Godfather’: ‘I heard you were a serious man,’” Sheffield said. “We put forth a very serious proposal to Amazon, and we feel confident we have a good shot at it.” However the decision to keep the bid proposal confidential has left some in the community concerned. David King, former president of the Austin Neighborhoods Council, said some Austinites have taken issue with the process’s lack of transparency. King said he did not want to see any tax incentives or public land offered. He said he was worried that the public would be included in the negotiation too late to have a say. Charisse Bodisch, senior vice president of economic development at the chamber, said Austin’s commitment to confidentiality to this point is business as usual. “You have some details about how many and what type of jobs [the company is] bringing, their product and how much of a capital investment,” Bodisch said. “As you get on a shorter and shorter list, that’s when you get into incentives and generally, that incentive process is a public process.” Incentives On the same day the chamber submitted the bid, Austin’s Economic Prosperity Commission—a council-appointed group that advises the City Council on construction and job creation—unanimously passed a resolution recommending council use every and any incentive tool available to bring the tech giant to Austin. Incentives available include a variety of tax exemptions for an array that includes job creation, employment of renewable energy, construction labor and equipment—just to name a few. However the incentive that generally gets the most attention from the public is the Chapter 380 agreement—which allows the city to offer a company loans and grants of city funds or services at little or no cost to promote economic activity. Gov. Greg Abbott said the state would offer an equal financial incentive package for any Texas city bidding for Amazon’s project. However, Austin officials confirmed financial incentives have not yet been offered by the city. Austin Mayor Steve Adler followed that up with a public statement and letter to Amazon executives. He told Austinites that any incentives offered to the tech giant would have to be approved by City Council and align with desired community benefits. “I firmly believe that Austin and Amazon can help each other achieve solutions to our biggest challenges,” Adler wrote. Until Austin is placed on a shortlist of potential landing spots for HQ2, the details of Austin’s bid will remain confidential. Amazon is expected to make an announcement regarding its HQ2 landing spot in 2018.