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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

2019 Top States for Doing Business Commentary: States with Improved Economic Development Policies Rise to the Top

Once implemented, changes in economic development policies take many years to achieve the desired results, but the survey rankings show that such changes are having the desired effect.

Q3 2019
Similar to 2018, the Southeast continues to lead the way in nearly every category of the survey. This is not surprising as the changes that must be implemented in order to improve these rankings can take several years to achieve the desired effect.

Tennessee is a great example of this, in the 2018 survey Tennessee was ranked 4th, and in 2019 Tennessee is ranked 2nd. Tennessee has taken great steps over the last several years to improve the corporate and personal income tax structure as well as creating the Tennessee Promise program. These types of changes take multiple years after being implemented to produce the desired results and, based upon the rankings and the state’s recent successes, the new policies and structures are having the desired effect.

It is also interesting to look at some of the states that had incredibly successful years at the end of 2018 and to date in 2019 and where they ranked within the survey, such as Virginia (tied for 10th), Louisiana (8th), and Arizona (16th), among others.

We have seen Virginia take on several aspects of economic development recently, including workforce development and shovel-ready sites programs. Virginia has made some strong investments in both its job training as well as its Business Ready Sites program. Virginia has had several noticeable successes in 2018 and 2019, such as Merck, Amazon, and Micron. As the state continues to strengthen its programs, I would expect to see Virginia to continue to climb in the rankings.

Site selection and economic development are continuously evolving, and those states that continue to evolve will always rise to the top.

TOP STATES FOR DOING BUSINESS 2019

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

Individual Categories

Overall Cost of Doing Business

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

Corporate Tax Environment

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

Business Incentives Programs

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

Access to Capital & Project Funding

  1. 1. California
  2. 2. New York
  3. 3. Georgia
  4. 4. Texas
  5. 5. Tennessee
  6. 5T. Ohio
  7. 5T. North Carolina
  8. 5T. Massachusetts
  9. 9. South Carolina
  10. 9T. Virginia
  11. 9T. Florida

Competitive Labor Environment

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

Leading Workforce Development Programs

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

Shovel-Ready Sites Program

  1. 1. Tennessee
  2. 2. Georgia
  3. 3. South Carolina
  4. 4. North Carolina
  5. 5. Alabama
  6. 6. Ohio
  7. 7. Texas
  8. 7T. Kentucky
  9. 9. Virginia
  10. 9T. Mississippi
  11. 9T. Missouri
  12. 9T. Iowa

Cooperative & Responsive State Government

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

Favorable General Regulatory Environment

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

Favorable Utility Rates

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

Most Improved Economic Development Policies

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

Speed of Permitting

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

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