Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Forbes ranks West Virginia No. 46 state in the country to do business

    CHARLESTON - Today, Forbes Magazine released its annual rankings of the Best States to do Business in in the United States. West Virginia was ranked as the No. 46 state.

    While this ranking may seem low, it is actually an improvement for West Virginia. Last year, West Virginia ranked No. 50 out of all 50 states.

    The annual Forbes rankings measure six vital categories for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life. Forbes factors in 33 different points of data to determine the ranks in the six main areas. Business costs that include labor, energy and taxes are weighted the most heavily. Forbes relies on nine different data providers. Moody’s Economy.com is the most utilized resource.

    For the second year in a row West Virginia's neighbor to the south, Virginia, was ranked as the best state in the nation in which to conduct business. Virginia was followed by Washington, Utah, Colorado and North Carolina.

    Following is the list as published today by Forbes. For more information about the list, please visit http://www.forbes.com/.


1 Virginia
2 Washington
3  Utah
4 Colorado
5 North Carolina
6 Georgia
7 North Dakota
8 Texas
9 Nebraska
10 Oregon
11 Idaho
12 Maryland
13 Montana
14 Iowa
15 Kansas
16 South Dakota
17 Minnesota
18 Florida
19 New Hampshire
20 Oklahoma
21 Delaware
22 Wyoming
23 Tennessee
24 Illinois
25 South Carolina
26 Arkansas
27 New Mexico
28 Alabama
29 Missouri
30 Indiana
31 Nevada
32 New York
33 Pennsylvania
34 Massachusetts
35 Connecticut
36 Arizona
37 Ohio
38 California
39 Hawaii
40 Mississippi
41 Maine
42 Alaska
43 Kentucky
44 Louisiana
45 New Jersey
46 West Virginia
47 Vermont
48 Wisconsin
49 Michigan
50 Rhode Island

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