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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

2020 Top States Commentary: Long-Term Economic Development Policies-Constants in a Changing World

Companies making expansion and relocation decisions seek consistent and predictable economic development policies, an attribute responsible for the same states receiving a top rank over many years.

Q3 2020
Unprecedented…pivot…disruptive…These words, and more, have been used to describe the events of the past six months and the convulsions that have literally shaken the political and economic world as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But in reviewing this year’s rankings, there’s a remarkable amount of consistency with previous years. In fact, with few exceptions, the states that are in the top 10 are mostly the same ones that have been there (though there have been a few small changes in the order) for the past four years.

Why is that still the case even in a time of great upheaval? It’s because economic development is a long game. Sure, changes in tax and regulatory policy can impact specific projects and deals, but it is consistency and predictability that companies making expansion and relocation decisions are seeking.

Companies don’t add jobs and make investment because they are charities. In fact, Wall Street often rewards companies for cutting jobs. Instead, companies want to be in communities that will be their long-term partners. And that partnership is best demonstrated through a long-term commitment to policies that help businesses grow — fair taxes, balanced regulatory approaches, stable politics. Those policies don’t happen overnight but are the result of years, if not decades, of commitment to these principles by both political parties, at the state and local level, and result from important investments in education, research, and infrastructure.

Companies go where they are wanted and where talent is concentrated. While the changes wrought by the pandemic could bring about some changes in those dynamics as reshoring unfolds and companies look for safer locations outside of coastal metropolises, many of the states featured in this year’s findings will continue to be well positioned for many years to come.

TOP STATES FOR DOING BUSINESS 2020

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

Individual Categories

Overall Cost of Doing Business

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

Business Incentives Programs

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

Access to Capital & Project Funding

  1. 1T. New York
  2. 1T. California
  3. 3. Texas
  4. 4. Massachusetts
  5. 5T. Georgia
  6. 5T. Illinois
  7. 7T. North Carolina
  8. 7T. Florida
  9. 9. Ohio
  10. 10. Colorado

Competitive Labor Environment

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

Workforce Training Programs

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

Energy Availability & Costs

  1. 1T. Georgia
  2. 1T. Tennessee
  3. 3. North Carolina
  4. 4. Texas
  5. 5.
  6. 6T. Alabama
  7. 6T. South Carolina
  8. 8T. Indiana
  9. 8T. Mississippi
  10. 8T. Louisiana
  11. 8T. Kentucky

Logistics & Infrastructure

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

Site-Readiness Programs

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

Available Real Estate

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

Cooperative & Responsive State Government

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

Corporate Tax Structure

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

Favorable Regulatory Environment

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

Speed of Project Permitting

  1. 1. Georgia
  2. 2. Alabama
  3. 3. South Carolina
  4. 4. Tennessee
  5. 5. Mississippi
  6. 6. Louisiana
  7. 7T. Texas
  8. 7T. Indiana
  9. 9. North Carolina
  10. 10T. Virginia
  11. 10T. Utah
  12. 10T. Arizona
  13. 10T. Missouri

Exclusive Research