CNBC & CNBC.com Present Week-Long Coverage with CNBC Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn Revealing America’s Top 5 States for Business Throughout CNBC’s Business Day Programming and Online on Tuesday, July 13th
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J., July 7, 2010 – Where are the lowest taxes? Who’s top in tech? Which state has the best access to capital? It’s never been more important for America to get back to work. Find out which states are keeping the U.S. in business…
Starting Monday, July 12th through Friday, July 16th CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, will broadcast the results of its fourth annual list of America’s Top States for Business. The network will build a week-long special event around this CNBC exclusive study with the complete rankings being revealed, along with the winning state, on Tuesday, July 13th throughout the network’s Business Day programming. The complete rankings for all 50 states will be available on CNBC.com and include an in depth look at each of their respective rankings.
CNBC Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn will broadcast live from the top-ranked state and start counting down CNBC’s 2010 list of America’s Top States for Business beginning on “Squawk Box” (6AM-9AM ET) with the top state being revealed on “Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo” (3PM-5PM ET).
CNBC.com will have a wealth of coverage about each state including economic snapshots with jobless rates, housing, budget deficit, employment data and corporate tax rates. In addition, the site will have exclusive lists tied to this special editorial report including "Top States for Tech," "Best Quality of Life," "Friendliest States for Business" and "Best Cost of Living." Throughout the week, users can also vote for the state that they think should be the top. The coverage culminates Friday, July 16th with in-depth reporting on the monthly state-by-state employment numbers ...critical components of the nation's jobs picture.
To determine the rankings for America’s Top States for Business, each state was scored – using publicly available data – on 40 different measures of competitiveness. States received points based on their rankings in each metric, which were then separated into ten broad categories.
So what makes a state great for business? The ten broad categories and the maximum possible points for each:
Cost of Doing Business (450 points) – Cost is a major consideration when a company chooses a state. We looked at the tax burden, including individual income and property taxes, business taxes, even the gasoline tax. Utility costs can add up to a huge expense for business, and they vary widely by state. We also looked at the cost of wages and state workers' compensation insurance, as well as rental costs for office and industrial space.
Workforce (350 points) – Many states point with great pride to the quality and availability of their workers, as well as government-sponsored programs to train them. We rated states based on the education level of their workforce, as well as the numbers of available workers and even considered union membership. While organized labor contends that a union workforce is a quality workforce, that argument, more often than not, doesn't resonate with business. We also looked at the relative success of each state's worker training programs in placing their participants in jobs.
Quality of Life (350 points) -- The best places to do business are also the best places to live. We scored the states on several factors, including local attractions, the crime rate, and health care.
Economy (314 points) -- A solid economy is good for business. So is a diverse economy, with access to the biggest players in a variety of industries. We looked at basic indicators of economic health and growth and also gave credit to states based on the number of major corporations located there.
Transportation and Infrastructure (300 points) -- Access to transportation in all its modes is key to getting your products to market and your people on the move. We measured the vitality of each state's transportation system by the value of goods shipped by air, land and water. We looked at the availability of air travel in each state, and the quality of the roads.
Technology and Innovation (250 points) -- Succeeding in the new economy-or any economy-takes innovation. The top states for business prize innovation, nurture new ideas, and have the infrastructure to support them. We evaluated the states on their support for innovation, the number of patents issued to their residents, and the deployment of broadband services.
Education (175 points) -- Education and business go hand in hand. Not only do companies want to draw from an educated pool of workers, they want to offer their employees a great place to raise a family. Higher education institutions offer companies a source to recruit new talent, as well as a partner in research and development. We looked at traditional measures of K-12 education including test scores, class size and spending and also considered the number of higher education institutions in each state.
Business Friendliness (175 points) -- Regulation and litigation are the bane of business. Sure, some of each is inevitable. But we graded the states on the perceived "friendliness" of their legal and regulatory frameworks to business.
Access to Capital (50 points) -- Companies go where the money is, and venture capital-an increasingly important source of funding-flows to some states more than others.
Cost of Living (25 points) -- The cost of living helps drive the cost of doing business. From housing to food and energy, wages go further when the cost of living is low.
Categories were selected with input from business groups including the National Association of Manufacturers (www.nam.org).
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