Forbes listing of top 179 Small Metros to do Business'

[HABANERO7]

Forbes Magazine has compiled their annual list of "Best Places for Business and Careers" with a new addition this year. Now along with the list of major metro cities Forbes has also introduced a rankings list for the smaller metro areas in the US.

(Here is the old data previously discussed here on UP concerning the Major Metro cities Forbes listed as Best Places for Business and Careers)

(This is showing rank out of the top 200 in the US)

Rank

[Rural King]

10 for 10 as Habanero says sure ain't bad!

I was a bit suprised to see Knoxville rank above Nashville, if just by a couple of spots.

[HABANERO7]

10 for 10 as Habanero says sure ain't bad!

I was a bit suprised to see Knoxville rank above Nashville, if just by a couple of spots.

I wonder if Knoxville's location at the crossroads of I-40 and I-75 has something to do with it?

[frankliner]

I was surprised to see Chattanooga rank so low. In terms of the complete package in a city, it's pretty hard to beat. I don't really know what the business climate is like there, but it doesn't seem all that different from Knoxville's...

[Justiceham]

I was surprised to see Chattanooga rank so low. In terms of the complete package in a city, it's pretty hard to beat. I don't really know what the business climate is like there, but it doesn't seem all that different from Knoxville's...

Yeah, I'm wondering what Knoxville's doing that Chattanooga and Nashville aren't.

[Hankster]

I was surprised to see Chattanooga rank so low. In terms of the complete package in a city, it's pretty hard to beat. I don't really know what the business climate is like there, but it doesn't seem all that different from Knoxville's...

This is the one area of improvement that Chattanooga really need to work hard on. The Chamber of Commerce and the city needs to play a more active role in promoting the city and paving the way for new businesses to locate here. Part of the reason for the low ranking, I believe, is perception also. If Chattanooga is successful in landing the Toyota plant at Enterprise South, you will see it rise considerably the next time the rankings come out.

[DaltonGA]

This is the one area of improvement that Chattanooga really need to work hard on. The Chamber of Commerce and the city needs to play a more active role in promoting the city and paving the way for new businesses to locate here. Part of the reason for the low ranking, I believe, is perception also. If Chattanooga is successful in landing the Toyota plant at Enterprise South, you will see it rise considerably the next time the rankings come out.

Chattanooga was once the "most polluted city in the USA" in the 1960's. Most of the old smokestack industry has gone away and the city promotes itself as a tourist destination with riverfront projects, Lake Chickamauga,

the Tennessee Acquarium, Lookout Mountain attractions(Rock City, the Incline, Ruby Falls,etc.), Civil War history at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Battlefield, etc. Note that Cleveland, TN and the Dalton, GA smalls MSAs which border Chattanooga do rank in the top 179. In reality they benefit from the proximity to Chattanooga and from many economic aspects are part of the Chattanooga area. Cleveland is included in the CSA, but Dalton is not but the ties are really just as strong. I'm surprised there is not a 15% incommute from Catoosa Co, GA in the Chattanooga, MSA to Dalton/Whitfield Co., GA which would have qualified Dalton for inclusion in the CSA.

[flith]

Chattanooga/Hamilton County historically have said that the lack of "large" tracts land to develop has always been an issue in attraction large businesses. Enterprise South is supposed to fix that.