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Missoula will take Inc. magazine’s good ink any day- Missoulian Opinion

SUMMARY: "In a way, it’s a mixed blessing. It’s nice to get a pat on the back Š. On the other hand, it’s like advertising your favorite fishing hole."

– Mayor Mike Kadas, Missoulian, Feb. 27

Well, that’s one way of looking at Inc. magazine’s rating of our community the second-best small city in America http://www.matr.net/article-9998.html for doing business. We, however, are inclined to see the favorable rating in an entirely positive light.

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/03/01/opinion/opinion2.txt

It just so happens that lots of outdoor-recreation publications routinely spotlight some of our favorite rivers and lakes; we certainly know what that kind of publicity can do for your sense of solitude. But identifying Missoula to a national audience as a good place to do business is not like advertising our favorite fishing hole. Competition for room to backcast isn’t the same as accommodating job growth and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs – the basis for which Inc. rated Missoula second (behind Montpelier, Vt.) among cities under 150,000 in population.

Sure, Missoula has its share of growing pains. But we don’t mind coping with the challenges associated with growth if it means more and better jobs – and opportunities for better lives – for our friends, families and neighbors. Anyone who’s lived in a town in decline – which includes Missoula in the early 1980s – will certainly tell you that there is something worse than growth.

Of course, no one should put too much stock in these sorts of ratings. A lot of magazines and organizations publish lists ranking places based on business climate, quality of life and other measures. These lists can be highly subjective and they often reflect the way the people who draw up the lists view the world. Lists rating places conducive to business, for example, often tilt toward cities with low taxes, low wages, business-friendly courts and minimal regulations.

Inc.’s list takes a little different approach. Its rankings are based largely on results. That is, its ratings use current and past job growth "as the most objective indicator of a region’s economic vitality." Other lists focus on taxes, education, labor force and other factors with the idea that areas that rate the best will have the best growth. Inc.’s rating supposes that the places that have the best growth likely have the right factors working for them. Don’t be surprised if the next outfit to rank cities doesn’t even mention Missoula – or offers a negative review. Such is the nature of these lists.

In the meantime, let’s bask in the limelight a bit and acknowledge that, whether it’s one of the best or simply a pretty good place to do business, Missoula is moving things in the right direction.

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