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Area Development

Top States for Doing Business 2014: Site Selection Consultants Survey Results

Sparking growth in business investment and jobs has proven more difficult than expected for states as they have emerged from the Great Recession. Capital spending and, especially, job creation have remained below par as corporate chiefs and business owners stick with a conservative philosophy until they perceive signs of a true boom. So the fight for the attention of site consultants and CFOs is more pitched than ever.

Q3 2014
With that in mind, Area Development is publishing our fifth annual Top States for Doing Business survey of site consultants, ranking the states based on their number of mentions by the consultants in three overall categories and 18 subcategories, Business Environment, Labor Climate and Infrastructure and Global Access:

Top States For Doing Business 2014

  1. 1.Georgia
  2. 2.Texas
  3. 3.South Carolina
  4. 4.Alabama
  5. 5.Tennessee
  6. 6.Louisiana
  7. 7.Indiana
  8. 8.North Carolina
  9. 9.Ohio
  10. 10.Mississippi
Analysis and Profiles of Top 10 States

Consultant's Commentary

Michael McDermott, Consulting Manager, Global Business Consulting, Cushman & Wakefield Bradley Migdal, Executive Managing Director, Location Advisory & Economic Incentives, Transwestern Dean Uminski, Partner, Crowe Horwath Bill Luttrell Sr. Locations Strategist / International Business Development, Werner Enterprises

Business Environment

Overall Rank

  1. 1.Texas
  2. 2.Georgia
  3. 3.South Carolina
  4. 4.Alabama
  5. 4.tLouisiana
  6. 5.Florida

Overall Cost of Doing Business

  1. 1.South Carolina
  2. 2.Georgia
  3. 3.Texas
  4. 4.Alabama
  5. 5.Louisiana

Incentives Programs

  1. 1.Louisiana
  2. 2.South Carolina
  3. 3.Georgia
  4. 4.Texas
  5. 5.Alabama

Corporate Tax Environment

  1. 1.Texas
  2. 2.Nevada
  3. 3.Florida
  4. 4.South Dakota
  5. 5.tIndiana
  6. 5.tTennessee
  7. 5.tUtah
  8. 5.tWyoming

Cooperative State Government

  1. 1.Georgia
  2. 2.South Carolina
  3. 3.Louisiana
  4. 4.Texas
  5. 5.Alabama

Access to Capital & Project Funding

  1. 1.Texas
  2. 2.Georgia
  3. 3.California
  4. 4.New York
  5. 5.South Carolina

Speed of Permitting

  1. 1.Alabama
  2. 2.tTexas
  3. 2.tGeorgia
  4. 3.South Carolina
  5. 4.Louisiana
  6. 5.tMississippi

Most Favorable Regulatory Environment

  1. 1.Arizona
  2. 2.Texas
  3. 3.tLouisiana
  4. 4.Alabama
  5. 5.tGeorgia
  6. 5.tSouth Carolina

Labor Climate

Overall Rank

  1. 1.Georgia
  2. 2.South Carolina
  3. 3.Texas
  4. 4.Alabama
  5. 5.North Carolina

Availability of Skilled Labor

  1. 1.tMichigan
  2. 1.tIndiana
  3. 2.Ohio
  4. 3.Texas
  5. 4.tCalifornia
  6. 4.tNorth Carolina
  7. 5.Illinois

Competitive Labor Costs

  1. 1.Alabama
  2. 2.South Carolina
  3. 3.Mississippi
  4. 4.Texas
  5. 5.Georgia

Leading Work Force Development Programs

  1. 1.Georgia
  2. 2.Louisiana
  3. 3.South Carolina
  4. 4.Alabama
  5. 5.tNorth Carolina

Labor Climate (Right-to-Work States)

  1. 1.South Carolina
  2. 2.tTexas
  3. 3.tGeorgia
  4. 3.tNorth Carolina
  5. 4.Alabama
  6. 5.tMississippi

Labor Climate (Non-Right-to-Work States)

  1. 1.Missouri
  2. 2.Kentucky
  3. 3.Ohio
  4. 4.New Mexico
  5. 5.Colorado

Overall Infrastructure & Global Access

Overall Rank

  1. 1.Tennessee
  2. 2.Georgia
  3. 3.Texas
  4. 4.Ohio
  5. 5.Illinois

Distribution/Supply Chain Hubs

  1. 1.Tennessee
  2. 2.Illinois
  3. 3.tGeorgia
  4. 3.tIndiana
  5. 3.tTexas
  6. 4.Ohio
  7. 5.California

Rail & Highway Accessibility

  1. 1.Illinois
  2. 2.Texas
  3. 3.tGeorgia
  4. 3.tOhio
  5. 4.Indiana
  6. 5.Tennessee

Certified Sites/Shovel-Ready Program

  1. 1.Tennessee
  2. 2.South Carolina
  3. 3.Georgia
  4. 4.Alabama
  5. 4.tNorth Carolina

Competitive Utility Rates

  1. 1.Alabama
  2. 2.tTennessee
  3. 2.tKentucky
  4. 3.tGeorgia
  5. 3.tLouisiana
  6. 3.tSouth Carolina
  7. 4.tArkansas
  8. 4.tTexas
  9. 4.t
  10. 5.tMississippi
  11. 5.tNorth Carolina

Energy Reliability / Smart Grid Deployment

  1. 1.Texas
  2. 2.Georgia
  3. 3.North Carolina
  4. 4.Tennessee
  5. 5.Ohio

Water Outlook (Availability & Cost)

  1. 1.Michigan
  2. 2.Indiana
  3. 3.tOhio
  4. 3.tWisconsin
  5. 4.Illinois
  6. 5.tMinnesota
  7. 5.tTennessee

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