Area Development
{{RELATEDLINKS}}A version of this story originally appeared in the Winter 2016 "Real Estate Monitor Newsletter", published by BDO

The new year is right around the corner, and corporate C-Suites are abuzz as executives decide how to deploy capital during the 2016–17 cycle. With competition for investment growing fiercer than ever, executives and their consultants have the dual luxuries of mobility and choice. So if you’re contemplating a relocation or expansion or are consolidating operations, you will inevitably be evaluating your existing locations to determine if they are productive business partners.

How do you decide which economic development agencies are naughty or nice? We’ve made a list and checked it twice — find out which development practices are helpful and which are worthy of a lump of coal.

Nice List

Locations meeting these rules just might find a few shiny new companies under the tree this year:

Naughty List

Locations that treat companies like this could wake up with coal in their stockings: