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Top 10 states for business
Top 10 states for business, What makes for a healthy business climate? A growing population and a positive economic outlook help. But business costs play the biggest role in how the states stack up in Forbes.com's annual survey.
Things aren't bad all over
The U.S. economy grew at a 2.5% rate in the third quarter, helping allay fears of a double-dip recession. Still, no one is breaking out the party hats, as economic obstacles seem to be everywhere.
Yet some locales are doing better than others. Knowing that businesses and individuals are struggling with questions about whether to expand and where to relocate, Forbes.com has ranked states according to their business climates.
Forbes rated each state in six main categories: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Business costs, which include labor, energy and taxes, were given the greatest weight.
Utah, as it did last year, emerged as the best state for business and careers. It is the only state ranked among the top 15 in all of the six categories.
Businesses are getting the message. Procter & Gamble (PG), ITT (ITT), Home Depot (HD) and Boeing (BA) announced expansions in Utah this year. Goldman Sachs (GS) has its second-biggest North American office in Salt Lake City.
With business costs that are 10% below the national average, Utah has also emerged as an affordable alternative to California for technology companies, including Adobe Systems (ADBE), eBay (EBAY), Electronic Arts (ERTS) and Oracle (ORCL).
Rank: 1
2010 rank: 1
Gross state product (GSP): $103 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 2.5%
Governor: Gary Herbert
Rank: 2
2010 rank: 2
Gross state product (GSP): $381 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 1.3%
Governor: Bob McDonnell
Rank: 3
2010 rank: 3
Gross state product (GSP): $381 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 1.4%
Governor: Beverly Perdue
Rank: 4
2010 rank: 10
Gross state product (GSP): $31 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 4.9%
Governor: Jack Dalrymple
Rank: 5
2010 rank: 4
Gross state product (GSP): $235 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 1.6%
Governor: John Hickenlooper
Rank: 6
2010 rank: 7
Gross state product (GSP): $1.1 trillion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 2.6%
Governor: Rick Perry
Rank: 7
2010 rank: 5
Gross state product (GSP): $307 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 1.9%
Governor: Christine Gregoire
Rank: 8
2010 rank: 9
Gross state product (GSP): $80 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 1.9%
Governor: Dave Heineman
Rank: 9
2010 rank: 6
Gross state product (GSP): $167 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 3.1%
Governor: John Kitzhaber
Rank: 10
2010 rank: 13
Gross state product (GSP): $128 billion
5-year growth in GSP (annualized): 1.2%
Governor: Terry Branstad
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