Texas Lands #3 Spot On Site Selection Magazine’s ‘Top State Business Climate For 2017’

Atlanta, GA- For the fifth consecutive year, Site Selection magazine has named Georgia as the state with the Top Business Climate. As revealed in the November 2017 issue of the magazine, research-based in part on a survey of corporate real estate executives and in part on an index of criteria based largely on the Conway Projects Database, has led to Georgia repeating its first-place finish in the 2016, 2015, 2014 and 2013 rankings of state business climates.

North Carolina ranks second, as it did in 2015 and 2016; Texas, Ohio and Tennessee round out the top five spots.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal tells Site Selection the state’s continuing capital investment success has a lot to do with successful collaboration in the state capitol.

“We have not had the kind of conflicts between the executive branch and the legislative branch that have been a part of our history in the past in Georgia and continue to be the current story of many governors and their legislatures across the country,” said the governor, pointing to the sales tax rollback on energy use by manufacturers as a notable policy change that continues to reap dividends for the state economy. Fiscal common sense has helped too. So has asking tough questions.

“We asked the hard questions,” said Gov. Deal, “such as, ‘What are we doing wrong?’ ‘What could we do better?’ Usually, only the media asks those questions. I thought it was time we asked ourselves those questions.”

The results are still in progress, as Georgia takes steps to improve its K-12 education system and, this very week, expand workforce development opportunities with the help of innovative tools like the state’s HOPE Career Grant program and the Technical College System of Georgia.

Corporate executives routinely cite Georgia Quick Start, the state’s workforce training program; logistics assets, such as the Port of Savannah and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport; and tax and education reform as the factors that brought them to Georgia.

In a survey published with the rankings, workforce skills were the most important criteria to site selectors for the second year in a row; incentives dropped from No. 2 to No. 9, while utilities and quality of life leapt up four spots to No. 3 and No. 6, respectively.

“Our Conway Projects Database of new and expanding facilities tracks private capital projects involving $1 million or more of investment, 20 or more new jobs or 20,000 or more square feet of new construction,” said Site Selection Editor in Chief Mark Arend.

“Site selectors gave Georgia very high marks in the executive survey component of the ranking only Texas and South Carolina scored higher. This ranking, therefore, reflects actual projects announced, which result in new jobs, and the input of those deciding where projects should be located. Georgia’s first-place finish would not be possible without strong performances in both of those areas,” said Arend.

Ranking Methodology

Fifty percent of the overall Business Climate Ranking is based on a survey of corporate site selectors who are asked to rank the states based on their recent experience of locating facilities in them.

The other 50 percent is based on an index of seven criteria: performance in Site Selection’s annual Prosperity Cup ranking; total Conway Projects Database-compliant facilities in 2016; total new facilities in 2016 per capita; total 2017 new projects year-to-date; total 2017 projects year-to-date per capita; state tax burdens on mature firms and on new firms according to the Tax Foundation and KPMG Location Matters analysis.

The November 2017 issue also includes the inaugural awarding of the Great River Cup to the top region in per-capita corporate facility investment along the Ohio River Corridor Maysville, Kentucky.

Other features include an in-depth analysis of the Amazon HQ2 sweepstakes; new global free zone rankings; global reports on policies and projects in China, South Korea, Germany, the Middle East, and Ontario; a report on incentives controversies in metro areas straddling state lines; data-rich analysis of recession-proof industries and FDI in America; and a host of industry reports and regional spotlights.

TOP 10 STATE BUSINESS CLIMATES 2017
1. Georgia
2. North Carolina
3. Texas
4. Ohio
5. Tennessee
T6. Alabama
T6. South Carolina
8. Kentucky
9. Virginia
T10. Indiana
T10. Louisiana

EXECUTIVE SURVEY BUSINESS CLIMATE RANKINGS 2017
1. Texas
2. South Carolina
3. Georgia
T4. Tennessee
T4. Alabama
6. North Carolina
7. Florida
8. Arizona
T9. Ohio
T9. Indiana
T9. Nevada

SITE SELECTORS’ TOP LOCATION CRITERIA FOR 2017
(2016 rank in parentheses)

1. Workforce skills (1)
2. Transportation infrastructure (4)
3. Utilities (cost, reliability) (7)
4. State and local tax scheme (3)
5. Land/building prices and supply (5)
6. Quality of life (10)
7. Workforce development (6)
8. Ease of permitting and regulatory procedures (9)
9. Incentives (2)
10. Higher education resources (8)

Source: Site Selection Magazine, published by Conway Inc., delivers expansion planning information to 45,000 executives of fast-growing firms. The senior publication in the development field, Site Selection, and its affiliated e-newsletters are also available via Site Selection Online. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Conway, since 1954 has been a trusted advisor to corporations, government economic development and investment promotion agencies around the world, and this fall, was named the Top International Company of the Year (Small Business) by the Georgia International Awards. Conway owns and manages Conway Events; Conway Custom Publishing; Berlin-based FDI Conway Advisory; and New York-based Conway PR & Marketing. Conway also manages the Industrial Asset Management Council. Conway employs over 80 people in 10 offices in seven countries.