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T his year’s Rankings Report isthe most comprehensive pack-age we’ve produced to date. Forour eighth annual report, we’ve

created nearly 50 categories in whichwe evaluate the leading states, metrosand international players. As always,our results are skewed towards growthpotential; we tried to avoid a frozensnapshot of last year’s cold statistics—we want you to know who deservesthe “up” arrow, and which locationswill be home to tomorrow’s growth.

While we always take special careto make sure our rankings are a for-ward-looking analysis, we aren’timmune to the reality that everyonewants to know the same thing abouttoday’s sputtering economy: Whereare the jobs? So, in several of ourmore statistics-oriented categories,this year we have given extra creditfor positive industry-specific employ-ment numbers.

A good example of this is ourannual Biotechnology Strength rank-ing. We’ve broken the overall biotech

ranking into several categories in thisyear’s report, including BiotechnologyStrength/Employment. There aremany up-and-comers who have estab-lished a foothold in the burgeoningbiotech sector, but we felt it was timeto give the traditional powerhousestheir due as perennial job-creators.

It seems like everyone is gettinginto the rankings game these days.We welcome the competition andespecially the proliferation of rank-ings-oriented data sources in nearlyevery industrial sector. This hasenabled us to track everything fromMost Business Start-Ups to MostWind Projects Under Construction.We will continue to refine our cate-gories and methodology to give youthe most useful information relatingto your specific areas of interest. Forexample, this year we supplementedour traditional Best Education Cli-mate ranking with a scorecard of thestates that emerged out front in thefierce competition for federal Race tothe Top education funding.

As this issue went to press,we observed with interest anasty spat between a locationthat wasn’t pleased with it’s lowstanding in a state business rank-ing and the national media outletthat produced this ranking. Thiskerfuffle reinforced our annual deci-sion to limit our results to the top 10(or top five) locations in each category.

Our primary goal in this report(and every annual rankings evalua-tion) is to throw our spotlight on theBest of the Best. We think everyonehas better things to do than to argueover who placed 40th or 41st. Andso, without further ado, here is our8th Annual Rankings Report.

TEXAS RULES THE ROOST IN BEST BUSINESS CLIMATE

A perennial frontrunner for ourannual Best Business Climate desig-nation, Texas has been ranked first orsecond in this flagship category foreach of the past five years. In our2012 report, the Lone Star State has

COVER STORYBy Business Facilities Staff

reclaimed the top spot in our mostimportant business benchmark.

In addition to this year’s first-placefinish, Texas also was our top-rankedstate for Best Business Climate in2009 and 2010.

“Texas has doubled down on itsbusiness-friendly tradition. The LoneStar State has been able to match andthen exceed pre-Recession employ-ment levels faster than any state inthe nation,” said Business FacilitiesEditor in Chief, Jack Rogers.

A surging population in Texas hasyielded a cost-effective workforcethat is being deployed in an increas-ingly diversified industrial base.

“Texas has laid out the welcomemat for a variety of high-tech growthsectors, including semiconductors,biotechnology and alternativeenergy,” Rogers noted. “When youfactor in a resurgent oil and gasindustry and new manufacturing,you get an economic powerhousethat can compete against all comers.”

In addition to growing high-techbusinesses, Texas has been aggressivein courting traditional manufactur-ers. A recent success was equipmentgiant Caterpillar’s decision to moveits hydraulics and engine manufac-turing to the state.

Texas edged out Utah, last year’s

top-ranked state for Best BusinessClimate. With mega-incentives forbig-ticket projects and low businesstaxes, Utah has succeeded in con-vincing tech giants including Adobeand eBay to put major operations inthe Beehive State.

Rounding out the top five in BestBusiness Climate are Virginia, whichis luring major government contrac-tors to relocate their headquarters tothe state (Northrop made the move,and VA is courting Lockheed);Florida, where Gov. Rick Scott haseliminated hundreds of regulations hesays are impeding business expansionsand new facilities in the Sunshine

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Economic GrowthPotential

1. LOUISIANA

2. VIRGINIA

3. NORTH DAKOTA

4. OHIO

5. UTAH

6. TEXAS

7. GEORGIA

8. TENNESSEE

9. PENNSYLVANIA

10. KENTUCKY

Best BusinessClimate

1. TEXAS

2. UTAH

3. VIRGINIA

4. FLORIDA

5. LOUISIANA

6. INDIANA

7. SOUTH CAROLINA

8. TENNESSEE

9. GEORGIA

10. NEBRASKA

Automotive Manufacturing Strength

1. TENNESSEE

2. KENTUCKY

3. SOUTH CAROLINA

4. GEORGIA

5. MICHIGAN

6. ALABAMA

7. OHIO

8. INDIANA

9. MISSOURI

10. TEXAS

State; and Louisiana, which has mar-ried an unrivaled workforce trainingprogram with a bevy of new incen-tives that are spurring hot new growthsectors, including digital media.

Our Best Business Climate rank-ing evaluates an amalgamation of ourkey rankings results (including educa-tion climate, workforce training/avail-ability, cost of labor, infrastructure,utility costs, credit rating and businesstax climate). We give extra credit tostates that have enacted and executedbusiness-friendly policies, includingnew incentives, an improved businesstax climate, and expanded workforcetraining initiatives. We also factor in

the recent success of economic devel-opment efforts geared to bring in newindustry segments and facilities.

Louisiana has surged to the top ofthis year’s Economic Growth Poten-tial ranking, edging out last year’snumber one, Virginia.

“With a diverse and well-executedeconomic development strategy, aworkforce training program that setsthe standard for the nation and a fullmenu of innovative incentives,Louisiana is marching forward on apath to prosperity,” Rogers said.

Louisiana moved into the top slotin BF’s coveted Economic GrowthPotential ranking after finishing a

close second in 2011. The BayouState also moved into fifth place inour Best Business Climate ranking,up from seventh last year.

“Business climate and growthpotential go hand in hand,” Rogerssaid. “Louisiana has made it clear tobusinesses looking to expand, relo-cate or establish new facilities that itis well prepared to meet their needs.”

Louisiana has buttressed its tradi-tional industries, including naturalgas and steel production, with anaggressive strategy that has success-fully established new growth sectorsin the state, including a red-hot digi-tal media industry which boasts cut-

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Employment Leaders Credit Quality

1. NORTH DAKOTA

2. WYOMING

3. SOUTH DAKOTA

4. NEBRASKA

5. TEXAS

6. VIRGINIA

7. MONTANA

8. ALASKA

9. OKLAHOMA

10. IOWA

Per Capita Income

1. CONNECTICUT

2. MASSACHUSETTS

3. NEW JERSEY

4. MARYLAND

5. NEW YORK

6. WYOMING

7. NORTH DAKOTA

8. VIRGINIA

9. ALASKA

10. NEW HAMPSHIRE

1. NORTH DAKOTA

2. NEBRASKA

3. SOUTH DAKOTA

4. VERMONT

5. IOWA

6. NEW HAMPSHIRE

7. WYOMING

8. OKLAHOMA

9. VIRGINIA

10. MINNESOTA

10. UTAH

ting-edge studios in New Orleans,Baton Rouge and Shreveport.

Virginia maintained its leadershipin our Economic Growth Potentialcategory with a second-place finish.As the Commonwealth continues torack up an impressive tally of corpo-rate headquarters relocations, Vir-ginia also has established itself as ahigh-tech hub with its new Common-wealth Center for Advanced Manu-facturing, anchored by jet-enginemaker Rolls Royce.

Moving into third place in ourEconomic Growth Potential rankingis oil-rich North Dakota, which isracing to maximize the expanding

bonanza from development of theBakken oilfield. The burgeoningBakken production has made NorthDakota a national job-growth leader.North Dakota also topped ourEmployment Leaders and CreditQuality categories.

In our evaluation of EconomicGrowth Potential, we consider thestate’s business climate, availability ofskilled workers, incentives and edu-cation climate, among other criteria.We also evaluate the state’s economicdevelopment strategy, giving extracredit for diversity of new growth sec-tors and coordination between busi-ness, higher education and govern-

ment agencies. The potential of pri-mary industries to generate secondaryrelocations/new facilities and indirectjobs also is considered.

TENNESSEE MAKES IT THREE INA ROW AS AUTOMOTIVE KING

For an unprecedented third con-secutive year, Tennessee has beennamed the top-ranked state for Auto-motive Manufacturing Strength inour 2012 rankings.

“Fueled by a national revival inthe auto sector, Tennessee’s assemblylines and supplier networks continue

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Workforce TrainingLeaders

1. LOUISIANA

2. GEORGIA

3. FLORIDA

4. NEW MEXICO

5. NORTH CAROLINA

6. NEBRASKA

7. PENNSYLVANIA

8. SOUTH CAROLINA

9. TEXAS

10. NEW HAMPSHIRE

Race to the Top Leaders

1. NEW YORK ($700M)

1. FLORIDA ($700M)

3. TENNESSEE ($500M)

4. GEORGIA ($400M)

4. OHIO ($400M)

4. NORTH CAROLINA ($400M)

7. MARYLAND ($250M)

7. MASSACHUSETTS ($250M)

9. DELAWARE ($100M)

10. RHODE ISLAND ($75M)

10. HAWAII ($75M)

Best Education Climate

1. MASSACHUSETTS

2. MARYLAND

3. NEW YORK

4. CONNECTICUT

5. NEW JERSEY

6. VERMONT

7. OHIO

8. GEORGIA

9. UTAH

10. TENNESSEE

to get bigger and better,” Rogers said.“VW is ramping up production at

its new plant in Chattanooga, Nissanis rolling out the all-electric Leaf inSmyrna and General Motors hasgiven a new mission to the formerSaturn plant in Spring Hill. The Vol-unteer State is putting the pedal tothe metal as our undisputed automo-tive king,” he added.

Tennessee was followed in ourannual automotive sector assessmentby Kentucky, which surged from lastyear’s fourth place finish to the no. 2slot in this highly competitive category.

“Kentucky’s long-term deal withFord—which is investing more than

$1 billion in its Louisville facilities—has cemented a century-long rela-tionship that stretches back to theModel T,” Rogers noted. “Whenyou factor in the ongoing expansionof Toyota’s huge assembly complexin Georgetown, GM’s commitmentto build next-generation Corvettesin Kentucky and a new advancedbattery tech center, you have themakings of a 21st century automo-tive powerhouse.”

Kentucky’s renewed partnershipwith Ford was the Gold Award win-ner of BF’s 2011 Economic Develop-ment Deal of the Year competition.

Rounding out the top five in BF’s

Automotive Manufacturing Strengthranking are South Carolina, home toBMW’s North American manufac-turing hub; Georgia, which rapidly isdeveloping a supplier network to sup-port Kia’s new plant in West Point,GA; and a resurgent Michigan, whichhas supplemented the boost it gotfrom the federal auto bailout with aburgeoning effort to produce lithiumbatteries and all-electric vehicles.

Business Facilities’ AutomotiveManufacturing Strength rankingplaces a heavy emphasis on growthpotential as well as current produc-tion statistics. Labor and utility costs,workforce availability and the size of

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Aerospace/DefenseIndustry Leaders

1. CALIFORNIA

2. WASHINGTON

3. TEXAS

4. FLORIDA

5. ARIZONA

6. CONNECTICUT

7. VIRGINIA

8. KANSAS

9. NEW YORK

10. PENNSYLVANIA

Best TransportationInfrastructure

1. TEXAS

2. FLORIDA

3. GEORGIA

4. OHIO

5. TENNESSEE

6. ILLINOIS

7. CALIFORNIA

8. NEW YORK

9. NORTH CAROLINA

10. UTAH

Alternate Energy Industry Leaders

1. IOWA

2. ARIZONA

3. TEXAS

4. OREGON

5. CALIFORNIA

6. NEW MEXICO

7. COLORADO

8. MICHIGAN

9. FLORIDA

10. KANSAS

regional supplier networks are factoredinto the ranking, as is a state’s commit-ment to the development of advancedautomotive technologies. Long-termplans by major automakers to ramp upproduction and assemble new vehiclesat specific locations also are part of thegrowth potential assessment.

Rogers noted that this year’s auto-motive rankings reflect an impressiveacross-the-board revival in the U.S.automotive industry.

“The obituaries that were writtenfor the U.S. auto industry were pre-mature. This recovery is being led bymanufacturing that is now globallycompetitive on a cost-effective basis

—and the manufacturing surge isstrongest in our revived automotivesector, which is hitting on all cylin-ders,” Rogers said.

“The United States has risen fromthe canvas and reclaimed its automo-tive heavyweight championship.When you factor in the demand fromemerging overseas markets in Asia andSouth America, the U.S. is poised todominate once again wherever therubber meets the road,” he added.

LOUISIANA MARCHES IN ASDIGITAL MEDIA LEADER

With innovative incentives andOscar-worthy talent, Louisiana is the

top-ranked state in our new DigitalMedia Leaders category.

“Louisiana’s rich culture in creativ-ity, film, music and television hasbeen a natural fit for the developmentof an emerging digital media andtechnology industry,” Rogers said.

“The activity in this red-hotgrowth sector is statewide, with newstudios and projects emerging onwhat seems like a monthly basis indigital media hubs including NewOrleans, Baton Rouge and Shreve-port,” he added.

The digital media surge inLouisiana has drawn major playerswho already boast a bounty of impres-

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Biotechnology StrengthEmployment Leaders

1. CALIFORNIA

2. NEW JERSEY

3. PENNSYLVANIA

4. ILLINOIS

5. TEXAS

6. FLORIDA

7. MASSACHUSETTS

8. NEW YORK

9. NORTH CAROLINA

10. INDIANA

1. NEW JERSEY (4)*

2. INDIANA (4)

3. CALIFORNIA (3)

4. FLORIDA (3)

5. ILLINOIS (3)

6. MASSACHUSETTS (3)

7. NEBRASKA (3)

8. NORTH CAROLINA (3)

9. SOUTH DAKOTA (3)

10. UTAH (3)

1. UTAH

2. VIRGINIA

3. ARIZONA

4. IOWA

5. KANSAS

6. SOUTH CAROLINA

7. KENTUCKY

8. NEBRASKA

9. OREGON

10. LOUISIANA

*Number of sub sectors in which state has employment specialization. Leaders NJ and IN have strong specialized employment in 4 of 5 sectors)

Biotechnology StrengthSpecialization Leaders

Biotechnology StrengthEmerging Biotech Hubs

sive awards, including two AcademyAwards at this year’s Oscars. The goldstatuettes went to Moonbot Studiosin Shreveport for its animated short

subject, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, andPixomondo, whose work on the filmHugo won the Oscar for Best Visual

Effects. Pixomondo announced earlierthis year it is investing $1.2 million toopen shop in Baton Rouge’s CelticMedia Centre.Louisiana edged out another

emerging digital media powerhouse,Utah, and outpaced perennial mediacenters New York and California totake the top ranking in BF’s DigitalMedia Leaders category.Louisiana’s digital media industry

is one of the fastest-growing in thenation. The state has almost 19,000skilled software developers andmore than 100,000 professionalswith a skill-set conducive to digitalmedia or software development. Inaddition, its information sector,including software publishing andtelecommunications, has experi-enced the second-fastest growth ratein the country since June 2009.Rogers noted that New Orleans’

robust comeback from the HurricaneKatrina disaster has been driven byan aggressive economic developmentstrategy focused on new growth sectors.“New Orleans is undergoing an eco-nomic renaissance—and digital media

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Biotechnology StrengthDrugs/Pharmaceuticals

1. CALIFORNIA

2. NEW JERSEY

3. PENNSYLVANIA

4. NORTH CAROLINA

5. ILLINOIS

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is playing an integral role,” he said.Companies drawn to Louisiana

include Firebrand Games, a criticallyacclaimed video game developmentcompany currently working on titlesfor the Nintendo DS and Wii. NewOrleans has attracted GE Capital’snew technology office, adding hun-dreds of jobs to the local workforce.GE chose New Orleans after a siteselection process that scrutinizedhundreds of locations.Known as the “Creative Capital of

the South,” Baton Rouge has attracteddevelopment studios such as Elec-tronic Arts, Crawfish Games, NerjyzedEntertainment and BitRaider MMO.Our Digital Media Leaders rank-

ing is calculated based upon an eval-uation of available incentives, recentproject activity, cluster growth poten-tial and initiatives/job creation indigital animation, video games,graphics and film sectors.

CALIFORNIA, WASHINGTON,TEXAS SOAR IN AEROSPACEFor the past few years, we have

issued a Metro ranking for our annual

evaluation of aerospace/defense man-ufacturing leaders. However, recentdevelopments have made it difficultto get an accurate fix on the metro

pecking order in this critical employ-ment sector, as jobs continue to shiftbetween aerospace hubs in Wichita,Charleston, Seattle and Oklahoma

B U S I N E S S F A C I L I T I E S 2 3

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reasons to expand your business to BUFFALO NIAGARA.

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learn more at buffaloniagara.org

– Robert T. Brady, Executive Chairman, Moog, Inc.

The complement of folks we have here in western New York are as or

more productive than the workforce we have anywhere in the world.

There is a lot of intellectual property developed in the universities, and

that’s how our company got started all those years ago.1. CALIFORNIA

2. MINNESOTA

3. MASSACHUSETTS

4. INDIANA

5. FLORIDA

Biotechnology StrengthMedical Devices

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City. Therefore, in our 2012 reportwe have refocused this category as astate ranking. An in-depth analysisprepared by Deloitte and commis-sioned by the Aerospace IndustriesAssociation (AIA), released in March,contains a treasure trove of data pro-viding a clear picture of which statesare dominating the aerospace/defensesector. Deloitte’s findings are derivedfrom publically available national-and state-level data from sourcessuch as the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), National CensusBureau, Bureau of Economic Analy-sis (BEA) and company financial filings with the Securities and

Exchange Commission (SEC). Southern California, Washington’s

Puget Sound and the Dallas/Ft. Worth area continue to be the nation’s leading regional aero-space/defense hubs, so it comes as nosurprise that California, Washingtonand Texas are our top three states inthis category, respectively, withWashington and the Lone Star Statenearly tied for second.More than 162,000 workers are

directly employed in theaerospace/defense industries in theGolden State. Washington, with93,925 workings in this sector, edgesout Texas’s total of 87,871. Florida

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Digital Media Leaders

1. LOUISIANA

2. UTAH

3. NEW YORK

4. MASSACHUSETTS

5. CALIFORNIA

6. OREGON

7. GEORGIA

8. RHODE ISLAND

9. COLORADO

10. NORTH CAROLINA

Best Business Tax Climate

1. WYOMING

2. SOUTH DAKOTA

3. NEVADA

4. ALASKA

5. FLORIDA

6. NEW HAMPSHIRE

7. WASHINGTON

8. MONTANA

9. TEXAS

10. UTAH

Most Business Start-Ups

1. ARIZONA

2. CALIFORNIA

3. TEXAS

4. COLORADO

5. ALASKA

6. MISSOURI

7. VERMONT

8. FLORIDA

9. NEW YORK

10. KENTUCKY

Emerging Data Center Hubs

1. UTAH

2. WYOMING

3. MINNESOTA

4. TENNESSEE

5. MISSISSIPPI

and Arizona round out the top five.According to the Deloitte report,

Washington actually has higheremployment in aerospace productsand parts manufacturing than its giantneighbor to the south, but Californialeads in several other subsectors. Thesurvey also reveals that Pennsylvanialeads in military land vehicle manu-facturing, while Texas produces themost artillery ammo.

Deloitte estimates that the U.S.aerospace and defense industrydirectly employed 1.05 millionworkers in 2010. These workersreceived $84.2 billion in wages andpaid $15.4 billion in Federal individ-ual income taxes, and $1.9 billion instate individual income taxes. TheU.S. government employs an esti-mated 845,198 aerospace and defenseskilled workers at armed forces main-tenance and repair depots, theNational Aeronautics and SpaceAdministration, the Federal AviationAdministration and other defenseagencies including Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency (DARPA)and civilians working at the Depart-ment of Defense.

Deloitte found the industry has anestimated indirect and inducedemployment of 2.36 jobs for every 1directly employed. The industry alsohas a large contribution to the U.S.economy, responsible for fully 2.23percent of GDP and 7.0 percent ofexports in 2010. With direct, indi-rect and induced employment of3.53 million jobs spread over theentire U.S., as well as contributing anestimated $37.8 billion in tax collec-tions benefiting local communities,state treasury coffers and the federalgovernment, this industry is centralto the U.S. economy and our largestnet exporter, contributing $89.6 bil-

lion to U.S. exports, with a large por-tion made up of commercial aircraftbound for foreign carriers.

LA’S FASTSTART, GEORGIA’SQUICK START TOPS IN TRAINING

As in 2011, innovative programsin Louisiana and Georgia are thecream of the crop among WorkforceTraining Leaders in our 2012 StateRankings Report. Workforce trainingprograms in Louisiana and Georgiaagain finished first and second,respectively, in this category, whichhas grown in importance as the needfor skilled workers has become anurgent priority across the U.S.

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Installed Wind Power Capacity

1. TEXAS

2. IOWA

3. CALIFORNIA

4. ILLINOIS

5. MINNESOTA

Wind Power as Percentage of Overall Energy

1. SOUTH DAKOTA

2. IOWA

3. NORTH DAKOTA

4. MINNESOTA

5. WYOMING

Wind Projects UnderConstruction (2012)

1. KANSAS

2. TEXAS

3. CALIFORNIA

4. OREGON

5. ILLINOIS

Installed Solar PowerCapacity Leaders

1. CALIFORNIA

2. NEW JERSEY

3. ARIZONA

4. NEW MEXICO

5. COLORADO

6. PENNSYLVANIA

7. NEW YORK

8. NORTH CAROLINA

9. TEXAS

10. NEVADA

“Louisiana’s FastStart continues tobe the gold standard for workforcetraining programs, which increas-ingly are an essential element in suc-cessful economic development proj-ects,” Rogers said. “Businessesrelocating to Louisiana can be certainthey will have strong support fromthe state in acquiring and trainingskilled workers.”

Rounding out the top five in ourWorkforce Training Leaders cate-gory are Florida, New Mexico andNorth Carolina.

To date, FastStart has completednearly 70 major projects for expand-ing companies in Louisiana. Theprojects touch a variety of sectors,from agribusiness to digital media

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Biofuels Leaders –Biodiesel

1. TEXAS

2. ILLINOIS

3. IOWA

4. INDIANA

5. MISSOURI

Biofuels Leaders –Ethanol

1. IOWA

2. NEBRASKA

3. ILLINOIS

4. MINNESOTA

5. INDIANA

The Right Incentives + The Right Locations + The Right Workforce =

W W W . P O S I T I V E LY M I N N E S O T A . C O M

Minnesota is the right choice for your data center.New data center tax incentives offer tax exemptions for 20 years on:

Cooling and energy equipment

Software No personal property tax – ever

Distinct operation advantages:

Cooler climate reduces costs

Low natural disaster risk Robust fiber optic network Abundant water supply Cost competitive energy

Top talent:

More than 87,000 workers in computer and information systems

Minnesota is the right choice for your d

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software development and corporate headquartersexpansions. Often, the program becomes the key reasonwhy companies choose to expand or relocate inLouisiana rather than another state or nation.

FastStart, which is run by Louisiana Economic Devel-opment (LED), was launched in 2008 to help attractand develop workers for new projects. One of its firstsuccesses was helping convince Gardner Denver Inc. tonot close its Thomas Products Division plant inLouisiana, but rather to expand it by moving productionfrom Wisconsin.

LED FastStart became the key factor in convincingGardner Denver to keep its Louisiana plant open, retain-ing 70 jobs and adding 200 new positions.

As part of a strategic incentive package, FastStarthosted job fairs and open houses in Monroe to buildinterest in the new jobs, and the FastStart team traveledto Wisconsin, where they performed key business analy-sis—defining behavior and competency requirements forthe new jobs—and documented essential steps needed fora seamless transition from Wisconsin to Louisiana.

Caterpillar, Baxter International, Outdoor NetworkLLC, NCR, Kia Motors and ZF Industries all have iden-tified Georgia’s Quick Start program as a key reason forchoosing to locate their facilities in the state.

Quick Start provides intensive, specified training togive companies the skilled employees they need to openquickly and run efficiently. These services come at nocost to qualified new companies or those adding newjobs or technology. The basic rule is that manufacturerscan receive Quick Start benefits if they create at least 15jobs over a 12-month period.

CALIFORNIA, NJ, PA ARE BIOTECH BEHEMOTHSAs previously indicated, we decided to break out

Biotechnology Strength ranking into Employment, Spe-cialization and Emerging Biotech Hubs categories.

California—the “birthplace of biotech” and home tonearly a third of the industry—dominates the employ-ment ranking, followed by perennial pharmaceuticalspowerhouse New Jersey.

New Jersey recently increased its research and devel-opment tax credit program from 50 percent to 100 per-cent, providing technology companies additional yieldon their investments in NJ. Gov. Chris Christie wasnamed BIO’s Governor of the Year at this year’s interna-tional BIO convention in Boston.

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Take the podium.

S C A N

Where your business is a BIG deal.

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“Despite increasing competitionfrom emerging high-tech hubs acrossthe nation, New Jersey has maintainedits long-time status as a biotechnologypowerhouse and set in place a diversi-fied strategy that will ensure contin-ued growth in this critical sector mov-ing forward,” Rogers said.

“The Garden State has supple-mented its traditional leadership inpharmaceuticals with strong special-ized employment across nearly allbiotech sub sectors. A biotech ‘brainbelt’ in the middle of the state offersan unmatched pool of skilled work-ers. This talent-packed workforce,along with generous R&D incen-tives, will keep New Jersey in the toptier for years to come.”

Since 2010, New Jersey hasassisted nearly 100 life sciences com-panies, including 30 as retention orexpansion projects. In addition tocreating and supporting over 8,000jobs, these retention and expansion

projects will inject an estimated $507million of private investment intoNJ’s economy.

New Jersey’s life sciences sectoremploys more than 122,000 people,which is nearly four percent of thestate’s private sector employment asof the third quarter of 2011. In 2010,New Jersey’s life sciences employerspaid more than $14 billion in wages,or 8.1 percent of the state’s total pri-vate sector wages. The average annualwage was $114,757, which was 106percent higher than the state’s totalprivate sector average annual wage of$55,736 (NJ also is one of our top-ranked states in Per Capita Income).Pharmaceutical companies comprised43.8 percent of New Jersey’s life sci-ence establishments in 2010.Biotechnology companies accountfor 34.6 percent and medical devicecompanies account for 21.6 percent.

The top five in our BiotechnologyStrength—Employment category is

rounded out by Pennsylvania, Illinoisand Texas, respectively.

Every two years, the BIO/Battellereport provides us with a repositoryof rich data that we use to developour biotech rankings. The Specializa-tion Leaders ranking in our 2012report is drawn from BIO/Battelle’sfinding that New Jersey and Indianastand alone as the only states withspecialized employment clusters infour of the five biotech sub sectorstracked by the industry report.

As always, we also have kept oureyes peeled for tomorrow’s biotechleaders. Our Emerging Biotech Hubscategories include a bevy of states thathave made a strategic investment indeveloping biotech as a criticalgrowth sector. This year’s leadersamong the emerging players are Utah,Virginia, Arizona, Iowa and Kansas.

2012 ALTERNATIVE ENERGYINDUSTRY LEADER: IOWA

Every year, we continue to recali-brate our flagship Alternative EnergyLeaders category to factor in a diverserange of state initiatives and theincreased availability of reliable datatracking the growth across all renew-able sectors, including wind, solar,bioenergy and hydropower.

Our top-ranked state in alt energyfor 2012 is Iowa, which has estab-lished itself as the nation’s wind powermanufacturing hub with a cluster ofglobal leaders in the production ofwind-turbine components.

Iowa ranked number two in thenation in our Installed Wind PowerCapacity (4,419 megawatts) andWind Power as a Percentage of Over-all Energy (18.8 percent) categories.The Hawkeye State also was the top-ranked state in our Biofuels Lead-ers—Ethanol category.

3 0 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

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#2006 at www.BusinessFacilities.com

Iowa became one of the first statesin the nation to adopt a renewableenergy standard in 1983, and sincethen the wind power industry inIowa has generated almost $5 billionin investment, including the 440MW Rolling Hills Wind Farm in thesouthwestern part of the state.

The Environmental Law and Pol-icy Center’s (ELPC) analysis shows80 companies that are part of theIowa wind industry supply chain,including seven international windturbine manufacturers. Iowa’s windindustry supports more than 2,300manufacturing jobs.

Several factors have helped Iowabecome a leading wind energy gener-ator and component manufacturer,including, business developmentresources and tax incentives. Iowa hasmade a significant commitment todeveloping and retaining renewableenergy jobs through the Office ofEnergy Independence and its $100-million Iowa Power Fund, which isdesigned to encourage research anddevelopment and innovation. TheIowa Values Fund also is a fundingsource for projects focused on jobcreation or retention in the state.

Iowa has been aggressive in offer-ing tax credits to encourage develop-ment in the alternative energy sector,including the New Jobs Tax Credit,the High Quality Jobs Program andInvestor Tax credits.

Perhaps the most critical factorenabling the successful establishmentof a burgeoning wind energy manu-facturing cluster is Iowa’s excellentmultimodal transportation system.As the wind energy sector developedin the U.S. during the past few years,turbine makers quickly realized theyneeded to produce the huge compo-nents for turbine installations (some

of which can stand as high as 400feet) close to the U.S. wind corridor,which runs across Iowa.

Iowa’s central location and trans-

portation infrastructure make it a pri-mary location for manufacturers toship and receive wind components.The Iowa Department of Transporta-

B U S I N E S S F A C I L I T I E S 3 1

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#2434 at www.BusinessFacilities.com

tion works closely with the IowaDepartment of Economic Develop-ment to attract wind energy manufac-turers by streamlining permitting,overcoming transportation constraintsand making staff available to discussfreight movements and logistics.

Global leaders in wind turbinemanufacturing who have establishedfacilities in Iowa include Vestas (Ven-tura, IA), Acciona (West Branch, IA)and Siemens (Fort Madison, IA).

Rounding out the top five in ourflagship Alternative Energy IndustryLeaders category are Arizona, Texas,Oregon and California.

California still rules the roost in

Installed Solar Power Capacity.Hardly a week goes by withoutanother announcement from theGolden State of a vast new solar farmproject. Most of these mega-projectshave been situated in the MojaveDesert not far from Los Angeles.

Google is funding BrightSourceEnergy’s solar farm in the MojaveDesert, which employs an IvanpahSolar Electric Generating System toproduce solar energy by utilizingfields of heliostats to concentrate thesun’s rays. The concentrated rays aredirected towards the top of a towerwhere a receiver converts the rays intosteam that powers a traditional tur-

bine and generator to make electricity.The Ivanpah Power Tower will

reach approximately 450 feet tall andwill use 173,000 heliostats, each withtwo mirrors. By the time the plant isup and running in 2013, it will beproducing 392 MW of solar energy.

While most people would expectCalifornia to be synonymous withsolar power, our second-place rank-ing for Installed Solar Power Capac-ity may raise a few eyebrows amongthose who haven’t been closely track-ing the race to the top in solar energygeneration. Thanks to a forward-thinking state program that startedincentivizing solar panel installations

3 2 J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 1 2

Jobs Growth Leaders

1. NORTH DAKOTA*

2. LOUISIANA

3. OKLAHOMA

4. UTAH

5. TEXAS

6. ARIZONA

7. KENTUCKY

8. INDIANA

9. TENNESSEE

10. COLORADO

Lowest Cost of Labor

1. MISSISSIPPI

2. SOUTH DAKOTA

3. WEST VIRGINIA

4. ARKANSAS

5. MONTANA

6. OKLAHOMA

7. IDAHO

8. SOUTH CAROLINA

8. KENTUCKY

10. LOUISIANA

Workforce Health and Safety

1. NEW JERSEY

2. MASSACHUSETTS

3. CONNECTICUT

4. PENNSYLVANIA

5. VERMONT

6. NEW YORK

7. NEW HAMPSHIRE

8. MARYLAND

9. VIRGINIA

10. OHIO

*increase

years ago, the Garden State hasearned its top tier status in this cate-gory. New Jersey’s installations don’trival the scale of the mega-farms inthe western deserts, but with ninemillion residents in one of our mostdensely populated states, smallerinstallations add up to a large bundleof megawatts.

“When people think of installedsolar power generation capacity, sun-drenched places like California, Ari-zona and New Mexico come tomind. This makes New Jersey’sachievement as a national leader insolar power installation—secondonly to California—even moreimpressive,” Rogers said.

“With strong state support forsolar power and a forward-thinkingprogram embraced by its largest util-ities, New Jersey has proven thatnumerous smaller-scale solar installa-tions with direct access to the exist-ing power grid can match the hugedesert solar farms out West,megawatt per megawatt. In solarpower, it’s only the size of your imag-ination that counts. New Jerseydared to think big on solar when itwasn’t popular to do so, and now it’sa solar energy giant,” he added.

BF’S ‘RECOVERY INDEX’In this year’s rankings report we’ve

gone out of our way to supplementour traditional business rankings(including Best Business Climate,Economic Growth Potential and BestBusiness Tax Climate) with severalcategories that we are loosely callingthe Business Facilities Recovery Index.These include Credit Quality, MostBusiness Start-Ups and Jobs GrowthLeaders.

Not surprising, North Dakota isby far the nation’s jobs growth leader

on a percentage basis (6.61 percent),while Arizona emerged as the statewith the most business start-ups.

Business Facilities is pleased to con-

gratulate all of the top-ranked statesin our 2012 Rankings Report for ajob well done.

B U S I N E S S F A C I L I T I E S 3 3

#2312 at www.BusinessFacilities.com

(Continued on page 64)

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