"At the end of the day, the engine of a new-economy company is talent," said Jared Fleisher, vice president of government relations for Quicken Loans. "And I think that is a preeminent factor for Amazon. And I think our commitment of pulling together as a state to mobilize our institutions, to target them to the needs of the technology center, is huge."

A former Amazon executive recently told Crain's that the company's search for a second headquarters is likely driven by the "black hole" the company has created in Seattle's tech talent market for computer engineers and programmers.

The 59-member committee Gilbert is leading in pursuit of Amazon includes the presidents of the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.

"The state is working with the universities," Gilbert said. "They're very, very anxious and cooperative and working very hard, I think. The term I heard … being thrown around is a Marshall-like Plan for this."

Snyder has recently used the term "Marshall Plan" to describe the state's needs for a new strategy on meeting the needs of employers seeking more workers trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics-focused career fields. The Marshall Plan was the multibillion-dollar program conceived by Gen. George Marshall to help rebuild Europe after World War II.

"We need a Marshall Plan for talent," Snyder said Sept. 23 at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference. "We need to grow Michigan."

A spokeswoman for the governor didn't directly address plans for such a project.

"The Governor feels Michigan is in its strongest position yet to attract major investments and job opportunities thanks to the significant changes we have made over the past 7 years to make this state a great place for job providers and the people benefiting from those jobs," Snyder spokeswoman Anna Heaton said in an email.

Gilbert said they couldn't discuss the education and job training component of Detroit's proposal for Amazon. But he emphasized it would be more significant than the tax incentives Detroit, Wayne County and Michigan can offer.

"We have something I personally think is going to be better" than incentives, Gilbert said.

The tax incentives package could center on the new incentives state lawmakers approved earlier this year to spur redevelopment of vacant land and allow new companies to capture their employees' state income tax for up to 10 years, depending on how many jobs are created.

"What we're banking on in our submission is that Amazon has a more noble purpose, a more noble mission, than trying to satisfy who can write the biggest check," said Steve Ogden, vice president of state and local government affairs for Quicken Loans.

The Gilbert team believes solving Amazon's talent needs, the quality of life in Southeast Michigan and regional collaboration among political and business leaders on the Amazon bid are the "ingredients" of a stew to be the online behemoth's second home, Ogden said.

Tax incentives "will play a role," Ogden said. "But that's a variable we can't control because everybody else will do that in every market."

Gilbert, a billionaire real estate developer, is the middle of planning construction of two new skyscrapers on the Monroe blocks east of Campus Martius and the former J.L. Hudson's department store site on Woodward Avenue.

Bedrock also is planning a 310,000-square-foot addition to One Campus Martius, the former Compuware building where Quicken Loans is headquartered.

In the interview, Gilbert reiterated earlier comments that he's willing to relocate some of his own 17,000-employee downtown workforce to meet Amazon's initial needs of at least 500,000 square feet of office space by 2019.

About 300 Amazon employees are already working out of a Detroit satellite office in the 150 W. Jefferson Ave. building, owned by Southfield-based Redico LLC.