Site Selection ranks North Carolina #1 for Business Climate
Says the ever-so-eloquent scribe Mark Arend of Site Selection magazine: “The top five states — with North Carolina at the top of the list for the ninth time in 10 years — are solidly southern, and three more are, for a total of eight, in the top 10.”
Check out the November 2010 cover piece.
Not to be outdone in the enthusiasm department, Governor Perdue adds, “People across the state and many businesses around the country know that I’ll take any call and go anywhere to bring a business to our state or expand a business or create a small business in North Carolina. We have been very aggressive, and that has paid off.”
Indeed it has. North Carolina, and the Triangle specifically, has experienced impressive business growth over the span of the recession. Relatively speaking of course. The article highlights many of them, including Caterpillar’s Forsyth County Expansion, among others.
Perdue cites the quality of our workforce, which stems directly from the limitless education opportunities provided statewide by the UNC system. However, Perdue made it clear that state incentives play a large role in making a state and region “business-friendly,” adding, “I can promise them the state will be as regulatory-[burden]-free as possible. We need to do whatever we can do to make it easier in our state for people to do business.”
The list, according to Site Selection, of the most important considerations for businesses looking to relocate, includes in this order:
- Work force quality
- State and local tax scheme
- Transportation infrastructure
- Flexibility of incentive programs
- Availability of incentives (tied w/#6)
- Utility infrastructure (tied w/#5)
- Land/building cost supply
- State economic development strategy
- Permitting and regulatory structure
- Higher education resources
