Download pdf - BFM State Rankings

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Every year, we strive to improveand expand our annual Rank-ings Report. Last year, weintroduced our revamped

Metro Rankings, which were pub-lished one month after we unveiledour traditional State Rankings. Thisyear, we are introducing a rankingsmega-package: our new andimproved State, Metro and Interna-tional (Global) Rankings, for the firsttime presented as a double-issue ofBusiness Facilities.

Although we are confident ouryearly assessment of the peckingorder of states, metros and coun-tries is an accurate measure of eco-nomic development advances (or,in some cases, retreats), we con-stantly are refining our rankingscategories and criteria to make surethe results bring into focus emerg-ing growth sectors and accuratelycredit locations that are movingaggressively to maximize theirresources and seize the moment.

The key metric for our 2010

Rankings Report is growth. Inalmost every category, we have givenspecial emphasis to the growthpotential of each location’s economicdevelopment strategy. We even cre-ated a new category—EconomicGrowth Potential—that rewards themost effective overall strategy and itssuccessful execution.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ARRIVESWe reconfigured our green rank-

ings this year, creating a bevy of alter-native energy leadership categories,reflecting the fact that “going green”means a lot more today than simplysustainable building.

Our new green categories addressthe emergence of a burgeoning alter-native energy manufacturing sector,turbocharged with federal stimulusdollars, and the beginning of a renew-able energy power grid. We identifythe locations that have staked a claimto leadership in wind, solar, geother-mal and bioenergy manufacturingand power generation.

Because national metrics/data foralternative energy initiatives are stillin the formative stages, our “growthfactor” heavily influenced our choicesin all of our new alternative energy-related categories. Renewable powerprojects rapidly are moving off thedrawing board and directly into com-mercial operation. Our rankingsacknowledge that many of these proj-ects are happening in real-time; thetotal impact may continue to buildthroughout the year. Therefore, youcan assume that all of the top-rankedalternative energy locations come withan “up arrow”—we expect to seerobust growth from them, and soon.

The 2010 Rankings Report is abarometer of the economic outlook.Last year, we tipped our hat to loca-tions that defied the downturn. Thisyear, we identify those who not onlyhave survived but are poised to dom-inate the emerging New Economy.So what follows on these pages is notjust a list of winners: you can call itour “Recovery Report.”

COVER STORYBy Jack Rogers

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Not surprisingly, the top-ranked states in our new Eco-nomic Growth Potential cat-

egory track closely with our annualState of the Year and EconomicDevelopment Deal of the Year win-ners, which were announced in theJanuary issue of Business Facilities.

South Carolina, our Gold Deal ofthe Year honoree, sent a seismic shiftthrough the aerospace manufactur-ing sector when Boeing decided tolocate its second 787 assembly facil-ity in the Palmetto State instead of itstraditional manufacturing base inWashington. We believe the selectionof N. Charleston as the manufactur-

ing site for Boeing’s best-selling com-mercial jet cements South Carolina’sstatus as a top-tier aerospace player,providing the basis for tremendousgrowth potential in coming years.

South Carolina already is home tomore than 100 aerospace-relatedcompanies operating in 23 countiesand employing more than 16,000people. The Boeing project isexpected to bring in nearly $7 billionworth of economic activity to thestate and local economy and createmore than 12,000 direct and indirectjobs in the next 10 to 15 years.

State officials said the deal repre-sents the largest single economicdevelopment announcement in SouthCarolina’s history. In addition to snar-ing our top ranking for EconomicGrowth Potential, the state jumped tofourth place in our flagship rankingfor Best Business Climate. Accordingto Gov. Mark Sanford, an improvedbusiness-friendly reputation was vali-dated by Boeing’s choice.

“Boeing’s decision to expand theirpresence in our state with an infusionof jobs and capital investment repre-sents not only enormously good newsfor our state’s economy, but also atelling dividend from our state’s con-tinued efforts to better our businessclimate,” Gov. Sanford said.

Tennessee, our State of the Yearwinner, has laid the foundation forrobust growth in automotive manu-facturing and clearly established itselfas one of the players to watch in thealternative energy sector. The Volun-teer State, which grabbed our topranking in Automotive Manufactur-ing Strength, has continued to attractfirst-tier suppliers to support Chat-tanooga’s selection as the site of Volk-swagen’s new vehicle assembly plant.The state also has established itself as

the polysilicon hub of the U.S., cornering the market for the rawmaterial for solar panels and semi-conductors with back-to-backannouncements that two of theworld’s largest polycrystalline siliconproducers (Hemlock Semiconductorand Wacker Chemie AG) are locat-ing major facilities worth a combined$3 billion in Tennessee. This wasquickly followed by ConfluenceSolar’s decision to put a $200-millionplant to produce mono-crystal sili-con ingots for solar panels in Clin-ton, TN. In Knoxville, meanwhile, apartnership with Oak RidgeNational Lab aims to make the Inno-

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Economic GrowthPotential

1. SOUTH CAROLINA

2. TENNESSEE

3. VIRGINIA

4. NORTH CAROLINA

5. TEXAS

6. ARIZONA

7. UTAH

8. NEW MEXICO

9. KENTUCKY

10. KANSAS

Best Business Climate

1. TEXAS

2. VIRGINIA

3. UTAH

4. SOUTH CAROLINA

5. TENNESSEE

6. NORTH CAROLINA

7. FLORIDA

8. LOUISIANA

9. SOUTH DAKOTA

10. WYOMING

vation Valley region a test bed foralternative energy-fueled mass tran-sit. All of the above adds up to a well-earned second-place showing inEconomic Growth Potential and arespectable fifth place in Best Busi-ness Climate for Tennessee.

For the second year in a row, Texashas taken the top prize in our covetedBest Business Climate ranking.There are more than 20 input factorsthat helped determine the final out-come in our assessment of this flag-ship category, including our rankingsfor Cost of Labor, Business Tax Cli-mate, Quality of Life, TransportationInfrastructure, Educated Workforce

and Economic Growth Potential. Wealso took a close look at per capitaGDP, population growth and energycosts/energy efficiency.

The Lone Star State continues tomatch its surging population with asolid strategy for attracting andexpanding new business. The list ofrecent facilities announcements is fartoo long to reproduce here [for asampling, see Texas Business Reporton page 44 of this issue]—suffice itto say that Texas is maximizing itsreturn from an unbeatable combina-tion of low taxes, strong incentives,low energy costs, a relatively low costof labor and solid infrastructure.

Texas continues to rule the roost in state-by-state comparisons ofemployment rates, GDP growth andpersonal income growth. A healthynumber of the metros ranked in thetop 15 for the nation’s biggest gainsin private-sector employment aredeep in the heart of Texas.

Virginia blasted its way into thetop 10 in Best Business Climate witha second-place finish that was naileddown with a first-rate focus on “jobs,jobs, jobs.”

Immediately after taking office inJanuary, Gov. Bob McDonnell issuedan executive order creating a stateEconomic Development and JobsCreation Commission. McDonnellidentified an improved business cli-mate as a top priority for the new unit.

“We must be aggressive in puttingin place the policies that will improveour business climate and make Vir-ginia a global job magnet,” he said.“This Commission will be identify-ing new ideas and initiatives to makethe Commonwealth even more com-petitive in the global marketplace.”

Virginia’s effort already is bearingfruit, most recently with anannouncement from defense giantNorthrop Grumman that it is relocat-ing its corporate headquarters fromthe West Coast to northern Virginia.

NEW BIOTECH POWERHOUSES Our Biotechnology Strength rank-

ing is labor-intensive, but we think it’sworth the effort. This year, we haveagain used government statistics andthe latest State Bioscience InitiativesReport, prepared by the Biotechnol-ogy Industry Organization (BIO) andBattelle, as a starting point. Weapplied 24 key criteria to develop ourranking, including the amount ofstate R&D funding and venture capi-

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BiotechnologyStrength

1. CALIFORNIA

2. TEXAS

3. PENNSYLVANIA

4. MASSACHUSETTS

5. KANSAS

6. NEW JERSEY

7. NORTH CAROLINA

8. ILLINOIS

9. MARYLAND

10. OHIO

Biofuels ManufacturingResearch Leaders

1. IOWA

2. ILLINOIS

3. FLORIDA

4. TEXAS

5. KENTUCKY

6. NORTH CAROLINA

7. OKLAHOMA

8. NEBRASKA

9. OHIO

10. KANSAS

tal investments; the level of concen-trated occupational employment inbiotech; tax exemptions specifically tar-geted to biotech; the number of biotechfacilities; biotech patents generated;university grant funding; and bio-science higher education degrees,among other factors. A point scale wasapplied, giving credit to states thatactually invested in biotech facilitiesand/or had the highest concentration ofemployment in more than one biotechsubsector. Last, but certainly not least,we weighed the data against the growthpotential of each state’s initiatives.

California, the undisputed“birthplace of biotech,” has success-

fully defended its crown as the heavy-weight champ of our BiotechnologyStrength ranking. The Golden Stateremains home to more than a thirdof the nation’s leading biotechnologyfirms and continues to leverage itshuge university system, moving for-ward with the establishment of a net-work of world-class genomics labs. Itremains to be seen whether Califor-nia’s ongoing fiscal crisis eventuallywill erode its standing as the center ofthe biotech universe.

Perennial contenders Pennsylvaniaand Massachusetts maintained theirleadership positions in our biotechranking, finishing third and fourth,respectively. Two emerging biotechpowerhouses, Texas and Kansas,flexed their muscles in this year’s con-test: Texas jumped into second placefrom last year’s mid-level showing ofsixth, while Kansas vaulted into fifthplace, up from the number nine slotin our 2009 ranking.

Texas has continued to build itsbiotech industry, notching a 35 per-cent increase in biotech-related facil-ities and an 11 percent increase intotal bioscience employment,according to the 2010 Battelle/BIOreport. Battelle reported that Texasnow has nearly 3,000 biotech facili-ties and about 65,000 bioscienceworkers. We also noted the amountof R&D funding for biotech in Texas(approx. $2.5 million) and the num-ber of higher education degrees inbioscience, which exceeded 10,000.Texas not only is building a biotechmanufacturing base, it is growing askilled workforce to support it.

We continue to be impressed withthe work of the Kansas BioscienceAuthority (KBA), the key driver inthe Sunflower State’s remarkableprogress up the national biotech lad-

der. KBA’s stewardship of a $581-million biotech investment fund is auniquely focused and highly success-ful campaign that brings togetherindustry, higher education and gov-ernment in a coordinated effort thathas made Kansas a national centerfor animal health research, a leader inpharmaceuticals and an emergingplayer in bioenergy.

Already established as the epicen-ter of a national Animal Health Cor-ridor, Kansas has been awarded witha trifecta of major governmentbiotech research facilities, includingthe $650-million NBAF biodefenselab, the Arthropod-Borne AnimalDisease Research Lab and the Centerof Excellence for Emerging andZoonotic Animal Diseases at KansasState University. The NBAF, whichwill be the nation’s premier biode-fense facility, is under construction inManhattan, KS, which earned ournumber two spot in this year’s rank-ing of the top 10 metros for Eco-nomic Growth Potential.

EMPIRE OF THE SUN When we began thinking about a

new suite of alternative energy rank-ings, we confronted a basic question:do we prefer our rankings sunny-sideup or organically grown? We also weretempted to forget the whole thing andgo wind-surfing.

But as we delved deeper into thedata, we realized that all of the majoralt energy players are not putting theireggs in one basket: they are aggres-sively moving to stake a leadershipposition in an entire menu of renew-able energy industries. Therefore, wetook the plunge and decided to createa ranking category for overall alterna-tive energy industry leadership.

Arizona, the established solar

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Alternative EnergyIndustry Leaders

1. ARIZONA

2. IOWA

3. MICHIGAN

4. FLORIDA

5. NEW MEXICO

6. TENNESSEE

7. KENTUCKY

8. CALIFORNIA

9. SOUTH CAROLINA

10. KANSAS

energy king, easily took the top rank-ing. As detailed in our April coverstory, Arizona’s robust solar panelindustry is a global as well as nationalleader, befitting the sunniest state inthe country. As we reported, Arizona’svast desert areas offer the highest solarpower potential in the nation, and thestate is by far the leading producer ofequipment to capture these rays. Tuc-son, AZ is home to some of theworld’s largest photovoltaic manufac-

turers, including Schletter, Inc.,Global Solar Energy and SOLON.

Iowa snared second place in ourAlternative Energy Industry Leaderscategory with its ongoing success asthe primary wind-turbine manufac-turing center and its natural positionas a major ethanol producer. Iowa ishome to six wind-turbine manufac-turing companies: Acciona, Siemens,Clipper, Hendricks, TPI and Trinity,representing thousands of green-collar

jobs and an investment of almost$250 million in the state.

The Hawkeye State is one of onlytwo states to make three componentparts of a modern windmill—turbine,blades and tower.

While Arizona and Iowa both haveestablished alternative energy indus-tries with enormous potential, we putour “growth factor” calculation intohigh gear when we made the remain-ing choices in this new category.

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Solar Energy Manufacturing Leaders

1. ARIZONA

2. NEW MEXICO

3. CALIFORNIA

4. NEVADA

5. TENNESSEE

Wind Energy Manufacturing Leaders

1. IOWA

2. SOUTH CAROLINA

3. KANSAS

4. ARKANSAS

5. NEVADA

Top 5 Wind Power Generation Leaders

1. TEXAS

2. IOWA

3. MINNESOTA

4. CALIFORNIA

5. NEW YORK

Top 5 Solar Power Generation Leaders

1. CALIFORNIA

2. NEVADA

3. FLORIDA

4. ARIZONA

5. NEW JERSEY

Top 5 Biomass Power Generation Leaders

1. CALIFORNIA

2. MAINE

3. FLORIDA

4. ALABAMA

5. GEORGIA

Top 5 Geothermal PowerGeneration Leaders

1. CALIFORNIA

2. NEVADA

3. UTAH

4. HAWAII

5. IDAHO

Anyone raising their eyebrows atour selection of Michigan as the third-ranked alternative energy industryleader hasn’t been paying attention tothe torrent of announcements thathave been coming out of the glove-shaped state in recent months. Michi-gan is far too busy reinventing itself asa hub for alternative energy manufac-turing to wallow in despair over lastyear’s tough sledding in the auto sector.

Hardly a week goes by without amajor piece of “green” news from theWolverine State, whether it’s DowChemical’s commercialization of solarshingles in Midland, MI or PresidentObama’s recent visit to the ground-breaking for an advanced lithium bat-

tery plant in Holland, MI. Dow’sramp up of its Powerhouse™ shingleplant was accompanied by the newsthat the chemical goliath, Michigan’sbiggest corporate investor, has ear-marked more than $1 billion forwind, solar and battery projects,which will create nearly 7,000 jobs.

Florida caught our attention with abevy of activity that promises to makethe Sunshine State a leading center forthe production of cellulosic ethanol,which many experts predict will bethe biofuel of choice in comingdecades. The major oil companies arelining up to ramp up test facilities inFlorida to commercial-scale produc-tion as soon as possible, convertingeverything from algae to sawgrass intotomorrow’s octane substitute.

New Mexico also has convinced usthat it is an up-and-coming contenderin alternative energy. In a period of 31days in January and February, Gov.Bill Richardson announced four newgreen energy projects that will bringnearly 1,000 new green energy jobs tothe state. First, Johnson Plate andTower said it would build a windtower manufacturing facility in SantaTeresa, using $2.4 million in federalRecovery Act Advanced Energy Man-ufacturing Tax Credits. Soon after,state officials revealed that C/DÇEnterprises would establish a $2-mil-lion green building product manufac-turing plant in McKinley County,outside of Gallup. Spanish renewableenergy company GA-Solar plans oneof the largest photovoltaic solar proj-ects in the world in GuadalupeCounty. GA-Solar and its parentcompany, Corporación Gestamp,plan to invest $1 billion in the proj-ect, which will use 2,500 acres for alarge solar array with the potential toreach upwards of 300 megawatts of

installed capacity. In early February,Solar Distinction Inc. came forthwith plans to build a photovoltaicmanufacturing plant in Albuquerque.

LIFE IS GOOD IN UTAH When we calculate our annual

rankings, we’re always on the lookoutfor states that are making huge stridesacross a wide range of categories.While we haven’t created a rankingfor “Most Improved State,” Utah’sshowing in our 2010 report certainlywould make it a top candidate forsuch a designation.

This year, Utah is our top-rankedstate for Quality of Life, ranks secondin Best Education Climate, third in Best

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Quality of Life

1. UTAH

2. OKLAHOMA

3. KANSAS

4. NEBRASKA

5. TENNESSEE

6. MINNESOTA

7. NEW JERSEY

8. MISSOURI

9. WASHINGTON

10. COLORADO

Cost of Labor

1. ARKANSAS

2. MISSISSIPPI

3. SOUTH DAKOTA

4. WEST VIRGINIA

5. OKLAHOMA

6. NEW MEXICO

7. TENNESSEE

8. MONTANA

9. NORTH DAKOTA

10. LOUISIANA

Business Climate, and seventh in ournew Economic Growth Potential rank-ing, among other top 10 placements.

Residents of Utah enjoy an invig-orating four-season climate, a moder-ate cost of living, high-quality educa-tion, excellent health care andoutstanding cultural and recreationalopportunities. Utah is an excellent

place to visit and an extraordinaryplace to live. The state captivates vis-itors and residents alike with its spec-tacular natural beauty, cultural offer-ings and year-round recreationalopportunities. In some seasons inUtah, it is possible to ski, golf, snow-mobile and water-ski on the sameday. Utah annually welcomes more

than 20 million visitors to naturalwonders like the Arches, BryceCanyon, Canyonlands, Capital Reefand Zion national parks. The dry,powdery snow found at Utah’s 13alpine ski resorts is widely consideredto be “the greatest snow on earth.”

In addition to its beautiful scenery,recreation and culture, Utah is safe,clean and affordable, creating anexceptional quality of life for the state’sresidents. Utah workers have long beenconsidered one of the most productiveand well-educated populations in thecountry. Boasting the youngest work-force average in America at 28 years oldand a half-million children in K-12,the state has several decades of power-house success ahead of it.

Utah’s innovative and business-ori-ented growth strategy is maximizingthe potential of these impressiveresources. Gov. Gary Herbert, whotook over as chief executive when Gov.Jon Hunstman was named ambassa-dor to China by President Obama, hastargeted three areas on which hisadministration is focused: economic

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Employment Leaders

1. NORTH DAKOTA

2. NEBRASKA

3. SOUTH DAKOTA

4. OKLAHOMA

5. KANSAS

6. IOWA

7. UTAH

8. MONTANA

9. VIRGINIA

10. VERMONT

Automotive Manufacturing Strength

1. TENNESSEE

2. KENTUCKY

3. SOUTH CAROLINA

4. MICHIGAN

5. OHIO

6. GEORGIA

7. INDIANA

8. ALABAMA

9. MISSISSIPPI

10. TEXAS

Workforce Training Leaders

1. LOUISIANA

2. GEORGIA

3. NEW MEXICO

4. FLORIDA

5. NORTH CAROLINA

development, education and energy. Utah was recognized by The Pew

Center on the States as the “BestManaged State in the Nation.” Thestate was cited for stability and pre-dictability in spending, tax policy anda business friendly climate.

All things considered, Utah iswithout a doubt living up to its nick-name: The Beehive State.

TRAINING TODAY’S WORKERS Tax credits and similar traditional

incentives often are the first tool inthe box that is put to use in sealingthe deal for a relocation or new facil-ity. However, many states now recog-nize that providing targeted work-force training potentially is the most

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Best Education Climate

1. VERMONT

2. UTAH

3. KANSAS

4. NEW HAMPSHIRE

5. NEBRASKA

6. VIRGINIA

7. IOWA

8. MICHIGAN

9. CONNECTICUT

10. NEW JERSEY

valuable and productive incentivethey can put on the table.

This year, we have chosen fivestates we believe are the nation’s work-force training leaders, a new rankingscategory that undoubtedly will con-tinue to grow in importance.

Louisiana stands atop the list withits FastStart workforce developmentprogram, which provides workforcerecruitment, screening and training tonew and expanding companies—all atno cost. Louisiana’s innovative andcustomized programs are available tocompanies that meet eligibilityrequirements and are aligned with thestate’s economic development targets,including digital media, headquartersand business operations, service indus-


The Austin area offers your business the best of all worlds. We’re easygoing andentrepreneurial. Pro-business and pro-environment. Get a real-time view of whatpeople are saying about greater Austin right now at www.austintexasnow.com.

Mark_321 Keep Austin Wired! Austin is being considered for anew national broadband project.8:03 AM from web

@GreenMan77 Alternative energy companies continue to surgein Austin. We ve got the power!8:15 AM from web

Technocrat_76 Now hiring. Analysts predict Austin will addclose to 10,000 new jobs in 2010.8:28 AM from web

comomo .


Best Business Tax Climate

1. SOUTH DAKOTA

2. WYOMING

3. ALASKA

4. NEVADA

5. FLORIDA

6. MONTANA

7. NEW HAMPSHIRE

8. DELAWARE

9. WASHINGTON

10. UTAH

tries, advanced and traditional manu-facturing, warehouse and distributionand research and development.

To qualify, a facility must firstcommit to creating a net of at least 15new, permanent manufacturing jobs,or a net of at least 50 new, permanentservice-related jobs. Service indus-tries, headquarters and business oper-ations, and warehouse and distribu-tion companies also must have amajority of sales out of state. Eachrequest is evaluated prior to projectcommencement to ensure all eligibil-ity requirements are met.

Louisiana FastStart’s partnersinclude the Louisiana WorkforceCommission, the Louisiana Commu-nity and Technical College System

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Best Transportation Infrastructure

1. CALIFORNIA

2. FLORIDA

3. TEXAS

4. NEW YORK

5. PENNSYLVANIA

6. ILLINOIS

7. GEORGIA

8. UTAH

9. TENNESSEE

10. ALASKA

and local colleges and universities—aunique model that enables stream-lined, efficient pre-employment train-ing, and access to a network of adulteducation resources.

Also in the top tier is Florida’sQuick Response Training Program(QRT), which provides grant fund-ing for customized training for newor expanding businesses.

Workforce Florida, Inc. admin-isters the program. An employer-driven training program, QRT hasprovided customized training forwell over 100,000 employees formore than 300 businesses through-out the state, jump-starting newventures and easing the way fornumerous expansions.


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Workforce Health and Safety

1. NEW JERSEY

2. MASSACHUSETTS

3. CONNECTICUT

4. VERMONT

5. MARYLAND

6. NEW YORK

7. HAWAII

8. VIRGINIA

9. MINNESOTA

10. NEW HAMPSHIRE