Birmingham and Jefferson County have officially launched a campaign to lure Amazon's second corporate headquarters.

Mayor William Bell said the city's bid for the headquarters is due in less than 30 days.

"There will be a financial cost," he said. "We are working out those issues."

Bell said a few sites in the city meet the parameters set by Amazon. He didn't disclose those locations.

"It can be done," he said of securing Amazon. "We are willing to put the work in."

Rick Davis, vice president of economic development for the Birmingham Business Alliance, said Amazon plans to select a headquarters location before the end of the year.

"This is a tremendous project," he said. "The fruits of the process alone can bear great good news for the city of Birmingham, Jefferson County and the central Alabama region. Know that this will be a professional response, and we will change the perceptions (of) those who don't know Birmingham ...."

City, county and state officials announced the campaign during a Monday afternoon press conference at Railroad Park downtown.

"When others ask me why are we going aggressively after Amazon, I am going to say, Why not?," Jefferson County Commissioner David Carrington said. "It gives Birmingham a unique opportunity to have a better tomorrow for our children and grandchildren. The Birmingham metro area offers Amazon a real opportunity to actively participate in the redefinition of a community that is already in the midst of an accelerated transformation."

Carrington said there were naysayers when officials planned to build a park in downtown Birmingham and a baseball stadium. He said they claimed no one would come.

Local residents are asked to take part in the campaign by taking a picture or video by one of the three giant Amazon boxes placed at The Pizitz, Railroad Park and at Legion Field.

"Bringing Amazon to Birmingham is going to take all of us. And the message we deliver has to be big - really, really big. Help us tell Amazon why our great city is the perfect location for their next headquarters," the sign next to the boxes state.

Tweet your picture to @Amazon and add the hashtag #bringatob.

Amazon announced earlier this month that it is seeking a location for a second corporate headquarters, which could include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. The company expects to invest more than $5 billion in construction.

Every dollar invested by Amazon in Seattle - the location of its first corporate headquarters -- generated an additional 1.4 dollars for the city's economy overall, according to the company. Amazon generated $38 billion to Seattle's economy from 2010 through 2010.

Amazon said it is has a "preference for": metropolitan areas with more than 1 million people; stable and business-friendly environment; urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent; and communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options.

State Rep. Jabo Waggoner, R-Vestavia Hills, said during the last session, the Legislature passed an upgraded incentives package that will make Alabama competitive.

"A lot is happening in our state and it would be big to have Amazon added to the list," he said.

Birmingham mayoral candidate Randall Woodfin said Bell's announcement is purely election year politics.

"Greater Birmingham has experienced zero job growth since 2000 and 30 percent of our population is living in poverty," he said in a statement. "Rather than propose a comprehensive economic development strategy, William Bell is delivering textbook election-year politics. Impulsively chasing projects as they come is not strategy. Birmingham has not made the adequate investments in public safety, workforce development, or public transportation over the course of Bell's seven year tenure to give us a real chance at landing a company like Amazon. This is not leadership, just the typical grandstanding from Bell."

Bell and Woodfin will face each other in an Oct. 3 runoff election.

Updated on Sept. 26 to include statement from Randall Woodfin.