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Magazine likes state's business climate
Site Selection magazine puts Georgia at top
georgia business
Gov. Nathan Deal at announces a manufacturer locating in Douglas County, creating 550 jobs, in June. - photo by Photo by Georgia Department of Economic Development

For the second consecutive year, Georgia has been ranked the No. 1 state for business by Site Selection magazine, an economic-development trade publication, Gov. Nathan Deal recently announced.
“Making Georgia the best state in the nation to do business was a strategic goal I set on day one of my administration,” Deal said. “This time last year, when Site Selection named our state No. 1, I vowed that I would work to keep us in that top spot, and that is exactly what we’ve done.
“Georgia’s business climate has topped that charts multiple times now, and people are taking notice. Not only are more businesses expanding or relocating here, but more people are moving to our state to take advantage of the new job and investment opportunities being created. Receiving this ranking for the second year in a row confirms that what we’re doing here in our state is, in fact, working.”
The magazine releases its annual rankings each November. Fifty percent of the annual business-climate rankings are determined by a survey of corporate-site selectors. The other 50 percent is based on an index of seven criteria: performance in Site Selection’s annual competitiveness ranking; total New Plant Database-compliant facilities in 2013; total new facilities in 2013 per capita; total 2014 new projects year to date; total 2014 projects year to date per capita; state tax burdens on mature firms and on new firms according to the Tax Foundation and KPMG Location Matters analysis.
 “Our New Plant Database of new and expanding facilities and our annual survey of corporate site selectors have placed Georgia once again at the top of our ranking of state business climates, following a first-place finish in 2013 and top-five showings the previous five years,” Site Selection editor in chief Mark Arend said. “Our readers regularly point to Georgia’s workforce training program, Quick Start; the Port of Savannah and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and other logistics assets; and its pro-business state leadership and economic-development infrastructure statewide as the main reasons they choose Georgia locations.”
Georgia has ranked among the top 10 states in Site Selection’s business climate rankings over the last 10 years. This year, Georgia’s business climate also was named No. 1 in CNBC’s annual rankings and in Area Development’s 2014 rankings.
“Not only does this recognition put a spotlight on the state’s logistics infrastructure, workforce, accessibility to our state through our ports and our pro-business environment, but also the strength of the diverse assets of our economic-development partners and communities across the state,” said Chris Carr, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

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