Area Development Homepage >> Top States for Doing Business >>

Winning States Offer Low Taxes, Generous Incentives, and Fewer Regulations

Eric Stavriotis, Senior VP, Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle, comments on the results of Area Development's 2012 Top States for Doing Business survey of location consultants.

Eric Stavriotis, Jones Lang LaSalle (Fall 2012)

Full Results: 2012 Top States for
Doing Business Survey »

OVERALL RANKINGS

2012

1. Texas
2. South Carolina
3. Georgia
4. Alabama
5. North Carolina
6. Louisiana
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. Mississippi
10. Oklahoma

2011

1. Texas
2. Georgia
3. Alabama
4. South Carolina
5. Indiana
6. Louisiana
7. North Carolina
8. Tennessee
9. Mississippi
10. California

2010

1. Tennessee
2. Texas
3. South Carolina
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Indiana
7. Mississippi
8. North Carolina
9. Virginia
10. Oklahoma

CONSULTANTS COMMENTARY

States With Deep Pools of Skilled Workers Come Out on Top
Scott Redabaugh, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle

Survey of Location Consultants Fails to Capture Progress Made by Many States
Dan Levine, Pricipal, MetroCompare LLC

Low Costs, Favorable Business Climates, and Right-to-Work Environments Propel Top States
Kathy Mussio, Managing Partner, Atlas Insight

The survey data for overall business environment attractiveness is aligned with where we are seeing the most corporate real estate new location announcements. Despite strong job growth in places like Michigan and Ohio, most of the industrial and manufacturing new location announcements, in particular, have been coming from states in the Southeast. It's notable that all of the top 10 states for overall business environment in support of manufacturing - with the exception of Indiana - are located in the Southeast or Southwest.

The states that are winning are those that have advantageous combinations of low taxes, [generous] incentives, and [fewer] regulations, and most offer predictable, stable political environments. This is typically coupled with an attractive balance of labor cost and availability. The Top States also make it easy for companies to do business by offering fast-track permitting and other business-friendly practices.

While the Southeast has attracted the most industrial and manufacturing concerns, not all companies need to be in the Southeast to operate their businesses. In fact, we see a huge opportunity for other U.S. regions to improve their policies concerning business retention and attraction. While it can be politically difficult and can take years to enact right-to-work laws or change the state tax structure, states can adopt fast-track permitting, tax incentives for business, new or updated incentive programs, or other business-friendly policies within one or two legislative cycles. States that raise their game now - and aggressively promote their pro-business reputations - will significantly benefit in the future.

Save/Share Article

About the Author

Eric Stavriotis, Jones Lang LaSalle
Eric Stavriotis is a Managing Director in Jones Lang LaSalle’s Business and Economic Incentives (BEI) Group and has negotiated more than $1 billion in incentives for projects involving more than $3 billion of investment. His expertise includes site selection and incentive negotiations, incentives administration, labor strategy, location advisory, footprint configuration, and overall real estate strategy. Stavriotis has worked across all industry verticals and project types. He also works closely with Jones Lang LaSalle’s Business Consulting, Location Intelligence, and Supply Chain & Logistics groups.

More articles by Eric Stavriotis

ASK AREA DEVELOPMENT

Have questions, comments or concerns about this article? Submit to Ask Area Development here and the author or an expert from our network of site selection and facility planning professionals will answer:

Privacy policy / GuidelinesArea Development will select a number of questions to answer each week. An Area Development representative will contact the submitting reader directly with feedback. Additionally, all submissions are eligible to appear online or in our print publication. If your question is selected for publication we will include and publish your first name, job title and industry only. The full identity of the submitting reader will not appear in published format.Area Development will not publish, share with any third parties, or use for marketing purposes any personal information submitted here without the express consent of the submitting reader.