Georgia's business climate ranked 2nd in U.S.

Media release: Georgia's marketing efforts got a boost today with the announcement by influential economic development publication Site Selection that the state is ranked second in the U.S. for its business-friendly environment.

 

"This ranking bears out our commitment to creating a top-notch business climate," said Chris Cummiskey, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. "Site selectors and consultants do a lot of due diligence when they research and recommend locations for companies, and an independent ranking like this speaks volumes about the quality of resources we offer."

 

"Georgia has consistently been improving its performance in our annual ranking of state business climates, from 10th place in 2008 to 8th place in 2009 to 6th place in 2010 to second place this year," noted Mark Arend, Site Selection's Editor in Chief. "This means the efforts of state-level and local economic development professionals in Georgia are clearly on the right track."

 

Fifty percent of Site Selection's annual business climate rankings, announced in the Nov. 2011 issue of the magazine, are based on a survey of corporate real estate executives that identified the Georgia's overall climate for capital investment as third in the United States. The other 50 percent is determined by a tax climate criterion and the states' performance in Conway Data's New Plant Database, which tracks new and expanded business facility activity.

 

The Site Selection ranking comes on the heels of another top-five ranking for the state in September, when Area Development magazine also ranked Georgia second in the U.S. as a site selection location of choice. That publication placed Georgia in the top five states in the country in 10 of its 12 categories, including workforce and infrastructure.

 

Site Selection magazine, published by Conway Data Inc., delivers expansion planning information to 44,000 executives of fast-growing firms. (www.siteselection.com). Conway Data is an international publishing and association management company headquartered in Atlanta. The firm manages the Industrial Asset Management Council, the Development Hall of Fame and the World Development Federation (WDF), offers consulting services and awards the annual Conway Safe Skies Award.

 

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, music and digital entertainment projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development.

 

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SITE SELECTION MAGAZINE TOP TEN STATE BUSINESS CLIMATES 2011

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

 

CONWAY EXECUTIVE SURVEY BUSINESS CLIMATE RANKINGS 2011

1. Texas
 2. North Carolina
 3. Georgia
 4. Florida
 T5. Tennessee
 T5. Virginia
 7. South Carolina
 8. Ohio
 9. Indiana
10. Alabama