BLUEFIELD —
Despite recent financial challenges brought on by the Great Recession, the Commonwealth of Virginia is still proving to be one of the nation’s most business-friendly states.
One must look no further than last week’s announcement by CNBC for evidence of Virginia’s business-friendly ranking. The Commonwealth was named America’s “Top State for Business” by CNBC.
Virginia took the top spot in the annual study, receiving the highest point total in the history of the rankings, according to Gov. Bob McDonnell. The Commonwealth finished in the top-half of every category ranked.
States receive points in the study based on ten broad categories. They include the cost of doing business, workforce, quality of life, economy, infrastructure and transportation, technology and innovation, education, business friendliness, access to capital and cost of living.
The number one ranking comes on the heels of Virginia receiving the highest ranking of any state east of the Mississippi in the American Legislative Exchange Council’s economic competitiveness ranking of the states. The economic competitiveness report was released just a week earlier.
McDonnell pointed to the latest report as further evidence that the Commonwealth is getting its economy back on track.
“Every Virginian deserves a quality job in the community that they call home,” McDonnell said last week. “Our focus, from day one of this administration, has been to put in place the policies that will help private sector businesses create those jobs in the Commonwealth and get our economy back on track. We’ve done that by keeping taxes low, getting government spending under control, having a strong Right to Work law, and making smart investments in transportation, economic development and higher education.”
The story of Virginia also is being told across the world to job creators from Beijing to Boston, according to McDonnell. And the message is apparently being received well. A growing number of entrepreneurs are once again choosing Virginia as a place to start and grow a business.
The unemployment rate in the Commonwealth has dropped from 7.2 percent in February of 2010 to 6 percent as of today. That’s more than three points below the national average.
While the financial storm that caused economic shock waves across the nation three years ago also led to a sharp economic downturn for the Commonwealth, we can now safely report that Virginia is once again growing.
It’s also wide open for business, according to McDonnell. The Commonwealth is to be applauded for securing yet another first-place best for business national ranking. Lawmakers in neighboring West Virginia should take note.
While the Mountain State was able to weather the financial storm better than Virginia, the Commonwealth is now roaring back as America’s “Top State for Business.”
Editorials
July 5, 2011
Number one — again: Va. named “Top State for Business”
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