Forbes Magazine has once again ranked Virginia as the “best state for business,” but the business pub declares that No. 5, Washington — home to Microsoft, Amazon.com, Starbucks and Boeing — is “the big story.” Washington, whose tagline is, “Innovation is in our nature,” moved up seven notches last year.
As for Virginia, here’s what Forbes writes:
Not that Virginia did badly–it just didn’t dominate the rankings the way it did last year. The state finished in the top 10 in four of the six main categories we examined. But in 2006, it finished in the top 10 of all of them. Virginia’s top attributes include an incentive environment that is the fourth-best in the country, according to Pollina Corporate Real Estate, a commercial real estate consulting firm, as well as an unemployment rate that’s the third lowest in the nation.
(See Virginia’s category rankings here.)
There was no acknowledgment of Virginia’s diminishing lead in Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s press release or any of the self-congratulatory quotes from leading legislators. Any state that was serious about maintaining its competitive advantage would closely examine the categories where it lost ground and figure out what to do about it. It’s always possible that the Governor and the General Assembly leadership are doing that, quietly and out of the public eye. But judging by the tenor of the press release, they’re just complacent. (Hat tip to Peter Galuszka.)
On a brighter note, we should acknowledge that Virginia does do some things right. Additional evidence comes from a press release from Attorney General Bob McDonnell’s office, who cites Virginia’s No. 2 ranking in Directorship magazine for its “business liability climate.” Says McDonnell:
“Expensive and excessive litigation leads to higher costs for consumers, less jobs for our citizens, and slowdowns in economic growth. It discourages investment and has a negative effect on the expansion of the free market. Money that Virginia companies spend fighting lawsuits is money not spent expanding facilities, conducting research, and hiring Virginia workers. This ranking is a bipartisan achievement.”
Who’s No. 1, you ask? Nebraska.
