Virginia has done it again—CNBC announced that Virginia has reclaimed the award for “Top State for Business.” Since the rankings began five years ago, Virginia has remained in the top two spots, with first-place finishes in 2007, 2009 and now 2011, and second place awards in 2008 and 2010. This year, Virginia was followed by Texas at number two, North Carolina as number three, and Georgia and Colorado coming in at fourth and fifth.
The news was announced live from Mount Vernon, Virginia. Speaking about Virginia’s win, CNBC Senior Correspondent Scott Cohn, said, "With an unprecedented fiscal crisis at the state level, never has it been tougher to stay competitive. But Virginia met the challenge on every level, achieving the highest point total in the history of our study, and finishing in the top half of every category. In the see-saw battle between Virginia and Texas, Virginia is back on top--for now."
CNBC took an in-depth look at why Virginia again came out on top. Using publicly available data, each state was scored on 43 different measures of competitiveness. States received points based on their rankings in each metric, which were then separated into 10 broad categories: Cost of Doing Business, Workforce, Quality of Life, Economy, Infrastructure & Transportation, Technology & Innovation, Education, Business Friendliness, Access to Capital and Cost of Living.
Not only did the Commonwealth win the highest ranking—Virginia received the highest point total in the history of the rankings, finishing in the top-half of every category ranked.
Virginia has often been lauded for its strategic location, friendly business climate and diverse economy, and this year’s CNBC top ranking was no different. The Commonwealth also showed marked improvements in its tax burden and education. Not only that, Virginia finished in the top ten in five categories: Infrastructure & Transportation at number 10, Economy at number 8, Education at number 6, second in Business Friendliness and tenth in Access to Capital.
So when people ask why they should “Say Yes” to Virginia, don’t just take our word for it—ask the experts.