CNBC names Virginia “Top State for Business”

One of the country’s leading financial news organizations has given Virginia the distinction of being the country’s best state for business.

June 28, 2011; 6:14 PM • by RVANews staff

CNBC has named Virginia the “Top State for Business” in the U.S. The Commonwealth received the highest point total in the history of the financial cable network’s annual assessment. “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,” noted CNBC in a press release.

In response to the honorific, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell said, “Our focus, from day one of this administration, has been to put in place the policies that will help private sector businesses create those jobs in the Commonwealth and get our economy back on track. We’ve done that by keeping taxes low, getting government spending under control, having a strong Right to Work law, and making smart investments in transportation, economic development and higher education.”

CNBC measured each state using publicly available data on 43 unique measurements of competitiveness, with each state receiving points based on their rankings in each metric. From this, the network analysts created 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.

Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, who also serves as Virginia’s Chief Job Creation Officer, said, “Virginia has been working hard to attain this status through a series of efforts including reducing spending, investing in job creating programs, improving workforce development programs, and selling Virginia around the world. This ranking is proof that our efforts are paying off.”

June 28, 2011 6:14 PM 2