Spokane climbing up Forbes list – City moves up to No. 91, bypassing Seattle and Tacoma – Boise came in seventh-// among smaller cities, Missoula this year was 12th, Billings 17th and Great Falls 115th out of 168

Five years after nearly hitting rock bottom in a magazine ranking, Spokane has reached its highest-ever standing in Forbes’ list of the best cities to do business.

The 2004 Forbes ranking, released Friday, puts Spokane at No. 91 among the nation’s largest 150 metropolitan areas. Last year, it was ranked 100th.

Tom Sowa
Staff writer

http://www.spokesmanreview.com/business-news-story.asp?date=050804&ID=s1517810&cat=section.business

Spokane this year finished ahead of Seattle and Tacoma for the first time ever in the annual Forbes ranking.

The annual list measures metropolitan areas by nine factor
s, including cost of living, income and job growth, crime rate and educational and cultural amenities.

For the full report: http://forbes.com/bestplaces/2004/05/05/04bestplacesland.html

This time around, Spokane ranked better-than-average in the number of residents who hold advanced degrees, cost of living, educational attainment and job growth. It was worse-than-average in crime rate, income growth and cultural/leisure areas.

Editors at Forbes noted that the best large and small cities to do business in tend to be ones with affordable lifestyles, a concentration of college graduates and strong leisure and cultural options.

The 2004 list ranked Madison, Wis.; Raleigh, N.C.; Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; and Atlanta as the top five large metropolitan areas. In the smaller-city category, the top five were: Sioux Falls, S.D.; Fargo, N.D.; Iowa City, Iowa; Lincoln, Neb.; and Fayetteville, Ark.

In 1999, the first year Forbes published its business-climate rankings, Spokane landed 161st out of 162 U.S. metros. Area leaders used that dismal score to call for major efforts to invigorate the region’s economy.

Up until now, Spokane’s highest Forbes rank was 98th, in the 2002 survey.

This year’s survey also included other Pacific Northwest cities, both large and small. Boise, which had been ranked No. 2 last year, fell to No. 7. Seattle, No. 89 a year ago, fell to No. 109. Tacoma raised its rank from 135th to 126th this year, the survey reported.

Among smaller cities, Missoula this year was 12th out of 168; last year it was 11th. Yakima had the distinction, for the second year in a row, of coming in dead last out of 168 smaller cities.

Spokane’s gain makes sense, according to Randy Barcus, chief economist for Avista Corp. “This information supports my contention for many years that this community is a remarkably good place to do business,” he said.

The positives listed by Forbes — affordability, educational attainment and job growth — will continue to make the area attractive to people who are looking to leave crowded cities elsewhere, Barcus said.   

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Boise makes Forbes’ Top 10 list
Business-friendly views, low costs, jobs draw kudos

Julie Howard
The Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 05-08-2004

Boise remains one of the top 10 metropolitan areas in the nation for doing business and for economic freedom, according to an annual ranking by Forbes Magazine.

Last year, Boise ranked second, just behind Austin, Texas.

This year, Boise came in seventh, facing competition from top-ranked Madison, Wis., Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Ga., and Provo, Utah.

"While not exactly a transportation hub, Boise continues to attract people from all over the nation thanks to low costs and job growth that has risen more than three times the national average during the past five years," said the report.

The latest ranking didn’t surprise Mike Ferguson, chief economist for the state of Idaho. "That list reflects a whole bunch of factors that, in turn, are substantiated," said Ferguson. "It confirms what we know through our economic performance, which is that this is an attractive place to live and do business."

Karl Tueller, deputy director of the Idaho Department of Commerce, said the two Forbes ratings were "good news for Idaho."

"We’ve been getting rid of unnecessarily rules and regulations since the Batt administration, and we’ve truly made Idaho a user-friendly state," Tueller said. "It helps when a respected magazine like Forbes takes notice of us. It makes it easier to attract new business to our state."

Top-ranked Madison, Wis. was praised for having a highly educated population, with 41 percent of the adult population having a college degree, nearly twice the national average. The metropolitan area also boasts a 2.7 percent unemployment rate, the lowest of any of the nation’s largest metro areas, according to the study.

Idaho also was named the fourth best state in the country for "economic freedom," in a side study Forbes did in conjunction with the Pacific Research Institute. The index suggests that the best place to be in business is where there are the fewest regulatory blocks and fiscal obstacles.

The "The U.S. Economic Freedom Index: 2004 Report" ranks the 50 states according to how friendly — or unfriendly — their governments are toward free enterprise. The report factored more than 140 variables — from taxes to environmental regulations to tort laws to property rights.

"We have strong public policies in terms of local and state laws, our tax structure is quite balanced and we have an efficient government," said Ferguson.

The rankings are based on five types of government intervention in markets: fiscal, regulatory, judicial, size of government, and welfare. Kansas ranked highest, while New York and California ranked lowest. Other top-ranked state are Colorado, Virginia and Utah.

This Index provides a much-needed metric to compare states on how they encourage or discourage free enterprise," said Lawrence J. McQuillan, director of Business and Economic Studies at the Institute. "It also suggests where future growth will occur, and where it won’t."

The positive light in which Boise and Idaho is portrayed in the national magazine pleased Ferguson.

"That’s advertising money can’t buy," he said.