Return to Virginia Business - January 2004

Around the Old Dominion

Virginia ranks

Virginia Business
January 2004

Top 10 Business-Friendly States

1. Virginia
2. North Carolina
3. Oklahoma
4. Alabama
5. Wyoming
6. South Dakota
7. Michigan
8. South Carolina
9. Georgia
10. Delaware

Virginia is the most business-friendly state in the nation, according to a report by Illinois-based Pollina Corporate Real Estate, a site-selection firm. The report, titled “Keeping Jobs In America,” measured states in 14 areas, including taxes, right-to-work legislation, energy costs and infrastructure spending. It also evaluated the quality of the state’s economic development program and incentive programs such as tax credits, job training and grants.

The study’s author, corporate relocation expert Ronald Pollina, says Virginia excels in its efforts to keep companies from moving jobs overseas where labor costs are lower. Second on the list was North Carolina.

Pollina argues that the U.S. needs a federal effort to help stem the loss of jobs, especially in manufacturing. “There are states like Virginia that are stepping up and saying we’re going to be proactive and try and keep these jobs, but they need more support.”

Virginia Business - January 2004