Posted on 07/11/2012 5:05:07 AM PDT by thackney
Texas has done it again.
The Lone Star State makes a triumphant return as America’s Top State for Business—its third time at the top of our rankings.
"Listen, there is a reason that Caterpillar [CAT 80.27 -2.87 (-3.45%) ] moved their hydraulics manufacturing and their engine manufacturing to the state of Texas," said Gov. Rick Perry in November during the CNBC Republican presidential debate.
We can attest to that.
In our sixth annual study, Texas racked up an impressive 1,604 points out of a possible 2,500, with top-10 finishes in six of our 10 categories of competitiveness. Texas has never finished below second place since we began the study in 2007.
Each year, we score all 50 states on the criteria they use to sell themselves. This year’s analysis is the most comprehensive yet, using 51 metrics developed with the help of the National Association of Manufacturers and the Council on Competitiveness, as well as input from the states themselves.
This year’s categories and possible point totals are:
Cost of Doing Business (350) Workforce (350) Quality of Life (350) Infrastructure & Transportation (325) Economy (325) Education (225) Technology & Innovation (225) Business Friendliness (200) Access to Capital (100) Cost of Living (50) This year’s study comes amid slowly improving fortunes for the states. A recovering economy coupled with lingering fiscal restraint following the Great Recession are helping states improve their finances for the first time in years.
“Revenue performance remains positive, expenditures in most states are stable and few states have faced mid-year budget shortfalls in fiscal year 2012,” the National Conference of State Legislators reported in May. That means states can resume their focus on the battle for business — and jobs.
In addition to the top spot overall, Texas has the nation’s best Infrastructure, according to our study. It improved to second place for Technology and Innovation, and boasts the third lowest Cost of Living. The state's Workforce improved to seventh best from 14th last year. Access to Capital declined a bit, but Texas still finished in the top 10 (eighth). Perhaps most impressive, the Texas economy recovered from a rare stumble last year, when it finished 14th in the category, improving to fifth this year.
Texas endured a wrenching budget crisis last year. While the state is still not out of the fiscal woods, it managed to emerge with its sterling, triple-A bond rating and stable outlook intact.
The state had to make some sacrifices though, and that hurt in some categories. Texas comes in 26th inEducation and 35th in Quality of Life. And while the state held the line on income taxes, the overall tax burden — including property and sales taxes — is high. That hurts Texas in the all-important Cost of Doing Business category, where it comes in 28th.
Since we began ranking the states in 2007, Texas and Virginia have traded places each year in first and second place. But the pattern was broken in 2012.
This year’s runner up is not Virginia but Utah, which surged from last year’s eighth-place finish. The Beehive State boasts low costs (11th lowest for Cost of Doing Business, sixth for Cost of Living), a world class Workforce (ninth place) and moves into the top 10 for Quality of Life. The state has seen an impressive influx of venture capital of late, jumping ten places to 13th for Access to Capital, and its Infrastructure improved to eighth place this year.
Virginia: Road to Trouble
So what happened to Virginia — last year’s top state?
The Commonwealth is still a contender, finishing a solid third overall. But it faltered in two categories in particular: Infrastructure and Economy.
Infrastructure — specifically the state’s perpetually clogged highways — has long been an issue in fast-growing Virginia, and there is fresh evidence this year that the state is having trouble keeping pace. With some of the country's toughest commutes, the state dipped to number 33 in the category, down from 10th a year ago.
Virginia’s economy remains in the top tier. But it has suffered in part due to circumstances beyond its control. The state’s proximity to Washington, DC has helped in previous years. Late last year, however, Moody’s slapped a negative outlook on Virginia’s otherwise pristine bond rating because of the federal government’s fiscal crisis. That contributed to Virginia slipping to 10th from eighth in our Economy category this year.
While still the envy of most states, Virginia declined in a total of six categories in 2012. The other four are Cost of Doing Business (32/21), Education (13/6),Technology & Innovation (14/11) and Business Friendliness (4/3). In this competition, you can’t post that many declines and stay on top — or, it turns out, finish second either.
Only one blue state....North Carolina. Not bad for 90 percent of the ranking by red states...Great job. Although if I was Texas, I would be very worried about California folks flocking in droves there and ruining that state too.
That describes this guy to a 'T'. I could rant about it, but I have before and don't feel like typing it all out.
Excuse me, but how does one measure ‘quality of life?’
That’s a nebulous term probably hard to determine and meaning nothing.
As for education, most of the illegals who cross the border stop in Texas... who can blame them?
Then we have to educate them. Texas is doing a good job there against all odds, but some of the strictures put on schools are not helping.
PS Thanks Rick Perry (a great governor for 11 years)
Relatively knee jerk conclusion. It sucks to be unemployed and needing a job.
It is mildly annoying to have a job you don’t like.
Fossil, I noticed a lot of unfair jealousy of Texas on this site a while back when Rick Perry was running for the nomination.
There were actually people who disliked him because he was a Texan.
That’s ok. Just don’t move here.
Amen
Damn right. Too hot in the summer, day after day of 100+ and you will freeze during the winter cold fronts. It is so cold it knocks out the power plants.
In the early part of dang near ever summer we get these huge thunderstorms that have so much lightening it is like artillery barrages and dump hailstone the size of tennis balls. My truck just got busted up by the latest one here in Dallas. The damage was so widespread it took two and a half weeks just to get to an estimator. I can't get into a body shop till September. They are all full.
We got killer bees, anthrax in everything from the vegetable gardens to the deer, tornadoes, floods and gigantic wildfires that burn down entire counties,
There are so many rattlesnakes that Texas doesn't require a license to just kill`em and I think it is ten bucks for the massive rattlesnake hunts. It is still ok to stomp them to death when they come up in your front yard.
The ones going to those snake hunts are something else. Here in Texas it is classified as "recreation." No joke. No traps allowed, gotta use your hands and a stick.
Also there are coral snakes and 10 kinds of pit vipers, including the copperhead, cottonmouth plus eight rattlesnake species. Piranha in some lakes too. World record alligators in the rivers as well. Makes for some interesting fishing trips.
Then there are the feral hogs all over the place. No season. No limit. Standard hunting license and you are good to go after the 300 pounders. Just watch out for the packs of coyotes that run wild day and night.
Mountain lions are pretty much everywhere, including the suburbs here in Dallas. They had to shoot one in downtown El Paso last year. About five years ago one was spotted in a downtown Dallas parking garage! Damn things will hop your backyard fence and chow down on your dogs in a blink of an eye.
Then there are the Texans themselves. Wow! The only folks I know that call their AR-15's "pellet guns." Dallas county has so many people doing concealed carry I don't even have to anymore. Darned if they are not just everywhere. And some are toting iron that makes a .45 look like a 22.
Yea, folks would not like it here. They should not even think about showing up in Texas, it's just awful.
:-)
.p
They got grass hoppers so big that they are required to file a flight plan with the FAA.
Texas = fire ants.
We would love to move from California to Texas, but after my kids are out of their “tender years” my wife, an animator, will need to be where the animation jobs are. That ain’t Texas, at least not yet. Here is hoping for us.
“Texas is great for business but it sucks to be an employee for one of those businesses...”
It sucks even worse to be unemployed. Tried it both ways, have the T-shirt. Or as they say, “Even bad sex is better than no sex”.
No need to exaggerate, Texas is in bad enough shape as it is.
Since Texas grasshoppers almost never exceed Maximum Takeoff Weight of 1,320 lbs, and usually don't fly above 10,000 feet (3,000 m) MSL or 2,000 feet (610 m) AGL, and nobody can understand them on a radio anyway, they get by under Sport Pilot rules and don't have to file a flight plan.
Here is a pic of a small one refueling on grass at a local dirt strip. See? They are not really all THAT big.
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