Consultants Forum Advertise
Subscribe
Close

  • Free for qualified executives and consultants to industry

  • Receive quarterly issues of Area Development Magazine and special market report and directory issues

Subscribe Now
Renew

Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

2023 Top States Commentary: Southern and Midwest States Provide Businesses with Important Resources

Access to training programs as well as incentives for automation are helping companies meet their workforce needs in the top-ranked states.

Q3 2023
With two of McGuire Sponsel’s four offices in the Midwest and Southeast, our Location Advisory Services team was not surprised to see high rankings for Midwest and Southern states. Our work with many of these state and local authorities and economic development teams would support such a leading ranking for these states. Southern and Midwest states have done a tremendous job in supporting environments that help to control costs and make resources widely available. These two factors are critical to future successful business operations, which companies integrate into their location decisions.

We also observe that companies are still highly influenced by the average wages and available workforce within an area. Understanding that wages are high and that the available workforce has been limited over the last couple of years, access to training programs is extremely important for growing a workforce internally for many businesses. Additionally, states that support companies with investment incentives for automation help them bridge the gap due to a limited available workforce and increasing production demands. Process automation will only continue in the future, and states that support these investments will continue to see significant economic development traction. Similarly, states should expect greater demand for support with sustainable or renewable projects as more and more businesses are looking to make direct investments in those areas.

The results of the Area Development’s Top States for Doing Business survey show that regions appear to have what we call a “node” state (a top performer), with surrounding states competing for business with similar programs and resources. For example, Georgia was listed as the number-one state in seven out of 14 categories and in the top five for five other categories. However, Tennessee and North and South Carolina were always within a few positions. Similarly, Ohio performed well in many categories, with Indiana, Virginia, and Kentucky close behind.

States that consider neighboring programs and seek to replicate or improve on them will continue to deliver value to businesses making critical location decisions. We believe there are a few states to keep an eye on, such as Iowa in the Great Plains region, Arizona in the West, and Louisiana in the South. These states have seen significant growth and were in the top 10 in several categories. They continue to innovate and evaluate their performance against their peers and (we believe) will continue to rise in the rankings.

TOP STATES FOR DOING BUSINESS 2023

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. South Carolina
  3. 3. Tennessee
  4. 4. North Carolina
  5. 5. Ohio
  6. 6. Alabama
  7. 7. Indiana
  8. 8. Texas
  9. 9. Virginia
  10. 10. Mississippi
  11. 11. Louisiana
  12. 12. Arizona
  13. 13. Michigan
  14. 14. Kentucky
  15. 15. Florida
  16. 16. New York
  17. 17. Iowa
  18. 18. Arkansas
  19. 19. Kansas
  20. 20. Illinois

Individual Categories

Workforce Training Programs

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Virginia
  3. 3. South Carolina
  4. 4. Louisiana
  5. 5. Alabama
  6. 6. Tennessee
  7. 7. North Carolina
  8. 8. Indiana
  9. 9. Arizona
  10. 10. Ohio

Overall Cost of Doing Business

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

Business Incentives Programs

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

Access to Capital & Funding

  1. 1. California
  2. 2. New York
  4. 3. Texas
  5. 4. Massachusetts
  6. 5. Georgia
  7. 6. Virginia
  8. 7. Illinois
  9. 8. North Carolina
  10. 9.Arizona
  11. 10. Maryland

Competitive Labor Environment

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

Energy Availability & Costs

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Tennessee
  3. 3. South Carolina
  4. 4. Alabama
  5. 5. North Carolina
  6. 6. Texas
  7. 7.
  8. 8. Oregon
  9. 9. Indiana
  10. 10. Iowa

Water Availability

  1. 1. Ohio
  2. 2. Michigan
  3. 3. Tennessee
  4. 4. South Carolina
  5. 5. North Carolina
  6. 6. Georgia
  7. 7. New York
  8. 8. Wisconsin
  9. 9.
  10. 10. Virginia

Logistics & Infrastructure

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Texas
  3. 3. Indiana
  4. 4. Ohio
  5. 5. South Carolina
  6. 6. Virginia
  7. 7. Tennessee
  8. 8. Kentucky
  9. 9. North Carolina
  10. 10. Illinois

Available Real Estate

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

Cooperative & Responsive State Government

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Tennessee
  3. 3. North Carolina
  4. 4. South Carolina
  5. 5. Ohio
  6. 6. Indiana
  7. 7. Virginia
  8. 8. Alabama
  9. 9. Arizona
  10. 10. Michigan

Corporate Tax Structure

  1. 1. Florida
  2. 2. North Carolina
  3. 3. Texas
  4. 4. Tennessee
  5. 5. Indiana
  6. 6. Georgia
  7. 7. Nevada
  8. 8. South Dakota
  9. 9. Ohio
  10. 10. Arizona

Site-Readiness Programs

  1. 1. South Carolina
  2. 2. Georgia
  3. 3. Ohio
  4. 4. Tennessee
  5. 5. Indiana
  6. 6. North Carolina
  7. 7. Virginia
  8. 8. Alabama
  9. 9. Kentucky
  10. 10. Iowa

Favorable Regulatory Environment

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

Speed of Project Permitting

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

Exclusive Research