Texas Named Best Business Climate for 2011
Texas has the best business climate in the country in 2011, according to Site Selection, a magazine about corporate real estate strategy and area economic development. Texas beat North Carolina for the top spot for the first time in ten years. The magazine looked at a variety of factors to determine the best state for those looking to form a business or relocate an existing business. Texas’ capital, Austin, presents a snapshot of the economic performance of the state overall.
Criteria for Best Business Climate
Site Selection looked at five objective criteria when ranking states to determine the most business-friendly place in the U.S.:
- Number of new plant projects in the state in 2010
- Number of new plant projects in 2010 per million people in the state
- Number of new plant projects for the first eight months of 2011
- Ranking in Site Selection’s annually competitiveness survey
- Tax climate
Site Selection also included subjective data when determining the best business climate by conducting a survey of executives about which states they favored for doing business. Many respondents to the survey mentioned that Texas is a pro-business state and the lack of governmental red tape makes it easy to do business there.
Many of the state’s metro areas ranked in Forbes magazine’s Best Cities for Jobs list. Texas had three metro areas in the top five small cities category, three metro areas in the top five mid-sized cities category and four of the top five cities in the large city category.
New Businesses in Austin
Austin is an example of the excellent business climate in Texas. The city was first on Forbes’ Best Cities for Jobs list in the large city category. Austin had $86 billion in domestic product growth in 2010, a seven percent increase from 2009. Austin has added some of the most office space in the country in 2011. The city will most likely have added over one million square feet of office space by the end of the year. Many of the new jobs and office expansions have been in the technology industry.
Contact an Attorney
If you are thinking of starting a business and want to take advantage of the opportunities that Texas holds for business owners, contact an experienced business law attorney who can guide you through the process of forming a business entity.
