Area Development Magazine Ranks Kentucky in the Top 10 States for Doing Business 2015
A recent article by Mark Crawford, published by Area Development Magazine (Q3 2015), ranks Kentucky in the top 10 states for doing business in 2015 along with Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Louisiana and Ohio.
The article states that the rankings reflect the results of a recent survey asking site consultants to give their top picks for 21 factors comprising three overall categories—business environment, labor climate and infrastructure/global access.
Mr Crawford cites, “States that consistently rank at the top for business performance know what it takes to be successful — an attractive business environment (taxes, incentives, permitting), labor pool (cost, availability, education, skill level, training), and infrastructure/global access (transportation infrastructure, energy costs, intermodal capabilities, certified sites). When combined with a creative and proactive state economic development team, these advantages can seem irresistible to companies that are looking to locate or expand their operations.”
Under the category of “Business Environment”, The Kentucky Small Business Credit Initiative (KSBCI) encourages banks to provide capital for entrepreneurs or small businesses. More than 24 million in loan support was approved through KSBCI last year. Additionally, Kentucky’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Matching Funds program is recognized as one of the best in the nation.
Kentucky is cited in the category of “Labor Climate” for the workforce development program “The Kentucky Skills Network”. Training for 84,000 Kentuckians in a variety of industry sectors was provided in 2014, including manufacturing, healthcare, information technology, energy distribution, and research and development.
Mr. Crawford states, “Our top-ranked states all have well connected interstates and highways, rail lines, airports, and port shipping. Other factors include certified sites/shovel-ready programs, competitive utility rates, energy reliability/smart grids, and water availability/cost.”
The complete article can be found at http://www.areadevelopment.com/Top-States-for-Doing-Business/Q3-2015
Elizabethtown/Hardin County, Kentucky enjoys many if not all of these attributes and it is obvious with the number of manufacturing facilities and small business locating/ expanding in the area that we are share in a big part of Kentucky’s success.