TRENTON, NJ—Even though it wasn't selected as a finalist, preparing an elaborate economic development proposal for Amazon's HQ2 site selection process without the support of the state was an important exercise for New Jersey's capital city, according to George Sowa, founding CEO of Greater Trenton, the economic development nonprofit started in late fall of 2015.

In an exclusive video interview with GlobeSt.com, Sowa says pulling together all the information on development opportunities and sites in the Trenton area is work that the agency will leverage in its conversations with other companies considering relocation there. Trenton did not make the “short list” of 20 cities being considered as finalists for the HQ2 development, although Philadelphia, PA, and Newark, NJ, the state's preferred choice, did make the list. Sowa points to a clear Amazon preference for locations in the Northeast.

You can watch the complete video interview with George Sowa in the player below.

“Thirty-five percent of the cities that were shortlisted are between Washington, DC, and Boston on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor,” Sowa says. “We're essentially at the heart of that corridor. It validates our location, but when you also look at the plan we put together, it's something that could be used for any series of companies going forward.”

Sowa, whose family has history in Trenton for more than a century, is bullish on the city's prospects for redevelopment, even though some observers see Trenton as a particular challenge because of past failures of city and state government to prevent a commercial exodus.