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We're No. 1 (but what does it mean?)
What does being No. 1 in business friendliness mean?Date published: 7/5/2009 BY CHELYEN DAVIS When it comes to state rankings, most politicians love to tout one in particular: Virginia's frequent spot near the top of the list of states that are friendly for businesses. Virginia has reached the top spot in Forbes.com's annual ranking for several years. Last month, Pollina Corporate Real Estate, a firm that helps companies relocate, put Virginia in its top 10 states for business. So what does it mean to be business-friendly? Among the factors Forbes uses to rank businesses are: business costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate and quality of life. Pollina uses 33 factors, largely more detailed variations on the ones Forbes uses. It takes into account how many Virginians go to college, workers' compensation rates, tax rates, crime rates and so on. Hugh Keogh, president of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said those details give businesses a picture of what it's like to operate in Virginia. Does the government provide tax incentives to come here? Will workers like living here and want to stay? Is it easy to move goods on the transportation network? Is there an educated populace? How much will the business pay in taxes? "It means slightly different things to the different surveys. To Pollina and Forbes, it means the combination of public policy and economic opportunity make Virginia a very attractive place in which to invest and create jobs," Keogh said. "In other words, state government is doing its job and the business community of Virginia is doing its job in terms of creating an environment that is conducive to investment and job creation." Brent Pollina, the company's vice president and author of the study, said Virginia has been in the top three on the Pollina list since 2004 because "Virginia's state and local leaders are innovative and aggressive in attracting and retaining jobs and investment." Keogh said he usually points companies to Virginia's per-capita income--10 percent higher than the national average--and the unemployment rate--30 percent lower than in other states--which Keogh called typical of Virginia's trends. The point of all these rankings is to lure more businesses to Virginia. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership is a state agency devoted to recruiting companies to move to or expand in Virginia. When Virginia is trying to persuade a company to open in Virginia, it's likely that other states--and, these days, other countries--are doing the same thing.
Date published: 7/5/2009
Virginia would be a much friendlier business leader if
(posted by
mustang2
, July 5, 2009 7:26 am)
it abolished the personal property tax. This onerous tax
(which is capable of inducing folks to throw tea in a bay)
discourages business from upgrading and modernizing as
to do so, one must pay a steep tax on the item purchased
for the rest of the life of the business unless the item is no
longer used or replaced.
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