Annual State of the States Report Addresses Corporate Location Factors

Site Selection magazine released its annual State of the States report. The report, an analysis of the business environment for businesses, assess each state on a variety of factors. These factors include business climate, legal environment, education and workforce, power costs, and fiscal solvency.

As part of the report, Site Selection conducts a survey of corporate real estate executives. This year’s participants represented a broad spectrum of organizations and disciplines ranging from commercial real estate transaction support to incentives consulting. Responding consultants also differed widely in terms of industry specialization, geographic focus and other characteristics.

The respondents ranked the top location factors as:
1.    Workforce
2.    State and local taxes
3.    Transportation infrastructure
4.    Utility infrastructure
5.    Land and building prices and supply
6.    Ease of permitting and regulatory procedures

Site Selection asked participants “Without regard to region, which US states have the best overall business climate?” Approximately 60 percent ranked Texas among the three states with the best business climate. South Carolina and Georgia followed Texas, with roughly 30 percent counting them in the top three states. And Indiana shows up again, the sole Midwest state among the top responses.

The overall ranking was as follows:
1.    Texas
2.    South Carolina
3.    Georgia
4.    North Carolina
5.    Tennessee
6.    Florida
7.    Indiana
8.    Virginia
9.    Arizona

While consultants and corporate real estate executives have differing opinions of what constitutes a favorable business climate, they seem to agree on which states have it, as corporate real estate executives ranked the top states similarly:
1.    Texas
2.    (Tied 2nd) Florida
3.    (Tied 2nd) Georgia
4.    (Tied 2nd) North Carolina
5.    South Carolina
6.    Tennessee
7.    Indiana

To learn more about the State of the States, please visit Site Selection magazine.