North Carolina ranks high in two newly released measures of business and economic performance.
Site Selection magazine named North Carolina one of the best business climates in the United States in its 2015 Business Climate list, a closely-watched ranking of economic development success. The state placed second in the magazine’s review. Last year, North Carolina finished third.
In the overall national ranking, North Carolina trailed only Georgia. Kentucky, Louisiana and Texas round out the top five places.
Site Selection’s annual business climate rankings are based on quantitative and qualitative factors that corporate site selectors say they consider most important. Fifty percent of the ranking comes from a survey of corporate site selection executives, who ranked North Carolina No.2, and 50 percent of the ranking is based on seven criteria – four which require states to demonstrate performance in attracting capital investment and the other two criteria derived from the Tax Foundation and KPMG’s Location Matters analysis of state tax burdens on mature firms and new firms.
In a separate study, North Carolina was recognized as one of the nation’s leading tech states by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. North Carolina ranked tenth in the categories of ‘high-tech performance’ and ‘innovation and entrepreneurship.’
The Foundation makes the point that innovation drives economic growth, noting this fact is one of the most consistent findings in macroeconomics. According to the Chamber, economists have calculated that approximately 50 percent of U.S. annual GDP growth is attributed to increases in innovation.
2015 Business Climate Rankings Site Selection
North Carolina Profile U.S. Chamber Foundation