Missoula tops Milliken Institute’s small city jobs ranking based on areas based on their economic performance and ability to create and keep jobs. Boise 13th in large city category. Pocatello tops in high-tech growth

A ranking of small cities by the Milken Institute http://bestcities.milkeninstitute.org/118_Metros.pdf has Missoula on top.

The independent economic think tank ranked U.S. metropolitan areas based on their economic performance and ability to create and keep jobs. Areas with low business costs and a knowledge-based economy fared well, the report said.

By ROBERT STRUCKMAN of the Missoulian

http://missoulian.com/articles/2004/11/17/news/top/news01.txt

Jeff Shay of the University of Montana School of Business http://www.business.umt.edu/ heralded the high ranking.

"It’s nice," he said with emphasis. "It’s a positive thing for Missoula."

Four researchers at Milken used job, wage and salary and technology growth to rate the top 318 metropolitan areas in the United States. The top 200, according to size, were ranked together, as were the smaller areas.

Missoula performed well because of its low business costs and highly skilled work force. Those costs include energy, taxes, labor and particularly low office rents, the report said. The report also listed access to lending and investing capital as factors.

The report also cited the robust health services industry, Missoula’s "college-town lifestyle" and access to nearby Bitterroot National Forest as major contributors to the area’s economic growth.

Ranked just below Missoula, at two and three respectively, are New Mexico cities Las Cruces and Santa Fe.

Both ranked in the top five of last year’s listing because growing retiree population in those areas has fueled economic growth. Also, Las Cruces has received a recent windfall of federal largesse in the form of development, the report says, making its continued success sensitive to funding cutbacks. Rounding out the top five small metros were Dover, Del., and Casper, Wyo.

So what does this mean to Missoula?

The financial scene in the areas has been percolating lately, Shay said.

"Some funds are just growing. That’s a perfect example. Venture and angel investing funds rely on wealthy individuals to invest money. Attention like this makes Missoula more attractive," he said.

Dick King, head of the Missoula Area Economic Development Corp. http://maedc.org/ , said rankings like these can attract smaller companies and encourage them to grow.

"Obviously, Missoula has a creative, energetic and diverse economy. When you get this kind of ranking it helps to reinforce what we have to say, and it reaffirms to businesses in Missoula why they are here," he said.

King pointed to the health care industry and the growth of the business service sector.

"That’s a small category that’s growing even more," he said.

Business services include companies like Pyron Technologies, which has found a niche providing technical and information services to the health care industry, and environmental engineering firms, which are flourishing in Missoula.

Missoula is a regular when it comes to national rankings of cities. Last spring Missoula came in second in Inc. Magazine’s top small cities for business growth.

Shay wondered if the rankings had a snowball effect.

Did Inc.’s ranking influence Milken’s?

Skip Rimer, a spokesman for Milken said the focus by the think tank’s researchers were on its own data and not the buzz about a place.

Reporter Robert Struckman can be reached at 523-5262 or [email protected]

Read the report

Find the report online at http://www.milkeninstitute.org

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Valley moves up to 13th in tech ranking

Last year, area placed 72nd in Milken study

http://www.headwatersnews.org/stories/redirect.php?id=18953

The Treasure Valley economy rebounded this year, but it is still not back to the level of the pre-high-tech slump of the last three years.

The bounce was good enough to move the Boise metropolitan area up from 72nd to 13th in an annual ranking by the Milken Institute that tracks job growth, salaries, gross domestic property and sales from high-tech companies. The study was released Wednesday.

Florida was the big winner in the study, with five metro areas in the top 10 and seven in the top 20.

Driven by Micron Technology and Hewlett-Packard, Boise ranked No. 1 nationally in both one-year and five-year high-tech industry output (or production) growth.

While those two big boys get much of the credit, smaller spin-offs are starting to make bigger impacts, said Rick Ritter, director of technology at the Small Businesses Development Center at Boise State University.

"We’re developing a very interesting next tier of businesses," Ritter said. "Some of those folks are starting to get traction in the marketplace."

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Top 10 cities

1. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.
2. Las Vegas
3. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.
4. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.
5. Daytona Beach, Fla.
6. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
7. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.
8. Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif.
9. Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
10. Monmouth-Ocean, N.J.
Boise’s rankings

Where Boise has ranked in Milken’s reports since its 1999 debut:
1999 51
2000 5
2001 92
2002 6
2003 72
2004 13
Brad Hem
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 11-18-2004

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But economist John Church said the service and trade industries are primarily responsible for economic recovery. There have been 7,000 new jobs created in those areas this year, compared to just 800 in the tech sector, he said.

"While it’s welcome, by far and away, it’s not the main reason," Church said.

Last year, Boise dropped from sixth to 72nd in the Milken study because of technology job cuts, and that showed how the volatility of the semiconductor and computer chip industries translates to volatility for the area economy. Church said Boise still needs to diversify its economy.

Ritter said he thinks the number of high-tech jobs is back to where it was a few years, but the quality of the jobs has declined.

"I think we’ve probably come back to a similar number of jobs," he said. "The problem is some of those jobs don’t pay as well as the jobs that were lost, so we’ve lost ground economically."

Shirl Boyce, vice president of the Boise Metro Economic Development Council, said the group is obviously pleased by the Milken ranking.

"How well you end up on their radar screen does make a difference," Boyce said. "It’s good to be back there. It’s an interesting indicator, but you don’t have to live or die by these (types of rankings.)"

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Pocatello tops in high-tech growth

By Sean Ellis – Journal Writer

http://www.journalnet.com/articles/2004/11/19/news/local/news12.txt

POCATELLO – In an annual survey that ranks the nation’s best performing cities, Pocatello came in 41st overall among smaller metros, but ranked first in high-tech growth.

According to the Milken Institute’s Best Performing Cities index, Pocatello’s high-tech gross domestic product soared at almost twice the national average from 2002 to 2003.

From 1998 to 2003, Pocatello ranked fifth in that category, with growth 30 percent higher than the national average.

Boise also ranked first in high-tech growth in the list of larger cities.

Pocatello Mayor Roger Chase said the city has made a concerted effort to nurture the high-tech environment in the Gate City "and that’s reflected in the ranking."

The Gate City’s enormous high-tech upswing gives local officials reason to celebrate, but the news was tempered somewhat by the fact Pocatello ranked low in total job growth and growth in wages and salaries.

Overall, Pocatello dropped three spots from 38th to 41st in this year’s survey.

Pocatello was rated 84th out of 118 small metros in wages and salaries growth from 2003 to 2004 and 52nd in overall job growth during the same period.

The city ranked 65th in job growth from April 2003 to April 2004.

Pocatello ranked 62nd in wages and salaries growth from 1997 to 2002 and 46th in job growth from 1998-2003.

"That’s one of our biggest challenges," Chase said about the lower ranking in wages and salaries growth. "We have to make sure people have living-wage jobs with benefits."

Boise was rated 13th among the 200 largest cities.

It had fallen from sixth in 2002 to 72nd in 2003, a development most experts attributed to financial difficulties at Micron Technology, the state’s largest private employer.

Boise ranked first in high-tech GDP growth from 2002-2003 and from 1998-2003.

That city ranked fourth in overall job growth from April 2003-April 2004, 80th in job growth from 2002-2003 and 16th in job growth from 1998-2003.

Boise faired poorly in wages and salaries growth from 2001-2002, placing 131st. However, the city rated 19th in wages and salaries growth from 1997-2002.

The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank.

According to the report, the index "enables businesses, industry associations, economic development agencies, investors, academics, governments and publicly policy groups to assess and monitor recent metro performance."

The index, which measures job, wage and salary, and technology growth, ranks metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs.

The top five smaller metros were: 1. Missoula, Mont.; 2. Las Cruces, N.M.; 3. Santa Fe, N.M.; 4. Dover, Del.; 5. Casper, Wyo.

The top five largest metros were: 1. Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla.; 2. Las Vegas; 3. Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.; 4. West Palm Beach-Boca Raton, Fla.; 5. Daytona Beach, Fla.

Seven of the top 20 and five of the top 10 largest metros were in Florida.