It was tight….who am I kidding, of course Virginia came out on top as the top-ranked state in the Forbes.com annual results.  A key point to keep in mind is that this is the second annual "The Best States For Business" article, and Virginia won last year, too!

The article is quick to point out, however, that Washington is right on our heels, and that we did not dominate the categories as we did last year.  The flip side to that is Virginia dominated the categories last year, and we still won this year!

Two key issues for going forward from here, and to capitalize on our success thus far:
1)  Washington did very well overall, and other states had high marks for their successes.  We should take the opportunity to study what they’ve done that made them successful in those areas, and see if those principles can be applied in Virginia.  Not all of those ideas can be easily transplanted, but we would be remiss to not consider what can be learned.
2)  Just like we highlighted from last year’s award from Forbes, we need to mazimize the good press from this recognition.  Let’s use it to draw in fresh blood, and to enhance the business environment.

To see what some Virginia politicians are saying about the outstanding results, see Vivian J. Page’s blog entry, "VA again Best State for Business".

Out of the 50 states, Virginia ranked as follows:
17th – Business Costs
5th   – Labor
1st   – Regulatory Environment
11th – Economic Climate
8th   – Growth Prospects
6th   – Quality of Life

Congrats, Virginia!!

(See also: RVA in Top 10 for Job Hunting from 8-11-06 & Maximizing the Good Press from 8-17-06)