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Virginia officials using top ranking in business survey
as marketing tool
Virginia Business
October 2006
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership didn’t
waste any time taking advantage of a recent accolade
from Forbes.com. The economic development group put a
new icon on its Web site highlighting its designation
as the “Best State for Business.”
Christie Miller, a spokeswoman for the partnership,
says that it’s too early to say whether the Forbes.com
ranking is having an effect on inquiries from industry
prospects, but “we are absolutely using it on every
marketing/PR effort we have,” she says. “It’s
a big deal.”
Forbes.com, the Web site for Forbes magazine, ranked
Virginia as a “clear No. 1” on its list of
top states for business. The ranking was based on 30
measurements in six broad categories: business costs,
economic climate, growth prospects, labor, regulatory
environment and quality of living.
Virginia was the only state to rank among the top
10 in all six categories. By contrast, No. 2 Texas
had
four top 10 showings while No. 3 North Carolina had
three.
Hugh Keogh, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber
of Commerce, believes that making the top spot
on the Forbes.com list will give the state that much
more
firepower in its economic development efforts,
especially
in direct
head-to-head competition with its major competitors
for prospects, North Carolina, South Carolina and
Georgia. “It
really will give top-of-mind awareness about Virginia
to corporate executives around the world,” he says.
The best states for business
1 Virginia
2 Texas
3 North Carolina
4 Utah
5 Colorado
6 Idaho
7 Nebraska
8 Delaware
9 Florida
10 Georgia
11 Maryland
12 Washington
13 North Dakota
14 Minnesota
15 Arizona
16 New Jersey
17 South Dakota
18 New Hampshire
19 Oklahoma
20 Tennessee
21 Kansas
22 Missouri
23 Wyoming
24 Arkansas
25 Iowa
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