Virginia back at top in business ranking
Virginia is back at the top of CNBC's annual ranking of the best states for business, after slipping one spot last year. The financial-news channel announced its 2009 rankings yesterday, with Virginia back in the No. 1 spot it first won in 2007. Last year's top-ranked state, Texas, is No. 2 this year, followed by Colorado, Iowa and Utah. CNBC said it ranked states based on 40 measures of competitiveness in 10 broad categories: cost of doing business; business friendliness; work force; economy; education; quality of life; technology and innovation; transportation and infrastructure; cost of living; and access to capital. Virginia's best showing among those categories was No. 2 in business friendliness, which measures a state's legal and regulatory environment. Its lowest ranking was No. 27 in the cost-of-living category. Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday touted the CNBC ranking as Virginia's seventh No. 1 best-for-business ranking during his term. Five of those top spots came from two media organizations; two came from a corporate relocation consulting firm. "The way CNBC put it, it has been an economy turned upside down, and everybody has been suffering, but they are looking at how we are poised for the future," Kaine said. The rankings do make a difference in business recruitment, said Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Patrick O. Gottschalk. "We sell our business climate all the time, but it is great when you have independent validation," Gottschalk said. Hugh Keogh, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, noted that Virginia also made a big jump in the economy category, rising from No. 17 last year to No. 7 this year. The category looks at the strength and diversity of the state's economy and its number of major corporations. "We are all concerned," about the recession, Keogh said. "But compared to the states around us, our unemployment rate is lower and our per capita income is higher. Even in bad times, we seem to be maintaining a relative advantage."
Copyright Richmond Times-Dispatch. Used by permission.
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