
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
overall business environment
1. Texas
2. South Carolina
3. Alabama
4. Louisiana
5. North Carolina
NEXT BEST
Indiana, Mississippi,
Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma
COST OF DOING BUSINESS
1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. South Carolina
4. Louisiana
5T. Indiana
Mississippi
North Carolina
NEXT BEST
Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida,
Oklahoma, Virginia
CORPORATE TAX ENVIRONMENT
1. Texas
2. Nevada
3T. Florida
South Dakota
4. Alabama
5T. South Carolina
Virginia
NEXT BEST
Indiana, Wyoming
INCENTIVES PROGRAMS
1. Texas
2. Louisiana
3. South Carolina
4T. Alabama
Georgia
5. Oklahoma
NEXT BEST
Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee
CORPORATE STATE GOVERNMENT
1. Louisiana
2. South Carolina
3. Alabama
4. Texas
5. Indiana
NEXT BEST
North Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Arizona
SPEED OF PERMITTING
1. Texas
2T. Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
3T. Georgia
Louisiana
ACCESS TO CAPITAL & PROJECT FUNDING
1. Texas
2. California
3. North Carolina
4. Massachusetts
5T. New York
Ohio
Overall labor Climate
1. Georgia
2T. North Carolina
South Carolina
3. Alabama
4. Texas
5. Louisiana
NEXT BEST
Michigan, Mississippi, Florida, Oklahoma, California, Indiana, Arizona
Availability of Skilled Labor
1. Michigan
2. Texas
3T. California
North Carolina
4. Ohio
5. Georgia
NEXT BEST
New York, Massachusetts,
Indiana, Virginia, Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey
Competitive Labor Costs
1. Alabama
2. South Carolina
3. Mississippi
4. Georgia
5. North Carolina
NEXT BEST
Texas, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky
Leading Work Force Development Programs
1. Georgia
2. South Carolina
3. Louisiana
4T. Alabama
North Carolina
5. Oklahoma
NEXT BEST
Florida
OVERALL INFRASTRUCURE & GLOBAL ACCESS
1. Tennessee
2. Georgia
3. South Carolina
4T. Indiana
Texas
5. Illinois
NEXT BEST
North Carolina, Ohio, Alabama, Kentucky, California
Rail & Highway Accessibility
1T. Illinois
Indiana
2T. Georgia
Ohio
Texas
3. New Jersey
4T. California
Missouri
Tennessee
Certified Sites or Shovel-Ready Programs
1. South Carolina
2. North Carolina
3. Tennessee
4. Alabama
5. Indiana
NEXT BEST
Georgia
Competitive Utility Rates
1. South Carolina
2T. Alabama
Mississippi
Tennessee
3. Georgia
4T. North Carolina
Oregon
5T. Kentucky
Washington
NEXT BEST
Utah
Distribution/
Logistics Hub Access
1. Tennessee
2. Illinois
3T. Georgia
Texas
4T. California
Indiana
5. Ohio
Washington
NEXT BEST
Kentucky, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia
1. Texas
2. Louisiana
3T. Indiana
North Carolina
4T. Georgia
Michigan
5T. Florida
Ohio
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Virginia
NEXT BEST
California, Tennessee

Eric Stavriotis, Senior Vice President, Strategic Consulting, Jones Lang LaSalle

Scott Redabaugh, Managing Director, Jones Lang LaSalle

Dan Levine, Pricipal, MetroCompare LLC

Kathy Mussio, Managing Partner, Atlas Insight
While there are exceptions, states with low business costs are more often considered and end up winning more projects than states with comparatively higher business costs. While not every state has the ability to address and fix its higher costs - due to lack of leadership and/or the political will - those that can tackle these often hot-button topics frequently reap positive, quantifiable results.
Indiana is a great example, as the pro-business policies attributable to its leadership under Governor Mitch Daniels led Indiana to become the 23rd right-to-work state. We have anecdotally heard about an increase in its pipeline for potential new projects, which makes sense considering that roughly 30 percent of projects eliminate non-right-to-work states as a location choice during their first screening.
At Atlas Insight, we have worked on projects in every single one of the states listed in the 2012 Top States for Doing Business. There is a reason why these states consistently make the Top 10: cost and a favorable overall business climate.