Best Places for business in FL

[sunshine]

A list of best places for business from Forbes..here are Florida cities location

By large metro

59 Fort Lauderdale, FL

60 Fort Myers, FL

61 Sarasota, FL

66 West Palm Beach, FL

76 Pensacola, FL

86 Orlando, FL

87 Daytona Beach, FL

94 Melbourne, FL

102 Tampa, FL

106 Jacksonville, FL

114 Fort Pierce, FL

124 Lakeland, FL

139 Miami, FL

For Small Metro

53 Naples, FL

63 Gainesville, FL

76 Fort Walton Beach, FL

85 Tallahassee, FL

106 Punta Gorda, FL

135 Ocala, FL

160 Panama City, FL

[Urban_Legend]

Do you know what they based their rankings on? What things were they looking for when they rated them?

[sunshine]

Outsourcing may be all the rage these days. But many companies are still looking homeward--with good reason: low business costs and an educated work force. For our sixth annual survey of Best Places for Business and Careers, we turned to Economy.com, the West Chester, Pa.-based economic and financial research firm. The resulting business cost index weighs expenses related to labor, energy, taxes and office space. To assess the qualifications of the work force we took into account the concentration of college graduates and Ph.D.s in an area. We also factored in job and income growth, migration patterns and crime rates. This year we added a culture and leisure index to the rankings. Compiled by Portland, Ore. consultant Bertrand Sperling, the index considers such amenities as museums, theaters, golf courses and sports teams.

[cameronm]

Orlando is starting to become good for business.

[JRS1]

Orlando is starting to become good for business.

Yeah, in fact, DB and Melbourne are 2 more Central Fla. cities on that list as well. I'm shocked to see DB on that list-- I wonder if they mean Volusia County when they list DB-- b/c West Volusia is Orlando metro.

[poonther]

Yeah, in fact, DB and Melbourne are 2 more Central Fla. cities on that list as well. I'm shocked to see DB on that list-- I wonder if they mean Volusia County when they list DB-- b/c West Volusia is Orlando metro.

Me too on the DB ranking JRS1. DB metro has 150,000 more people than Tally metro but their work force is about 5,000 people smaller (probably due to so many retirees and West Volusia folks working in the Orlando metro) and not growing as fast as Tally's.

[MrJoshua]

I never liked these ridiculous surveys. From year to year, it is not uncommon to see a city drop 100 places on this totally arbitrary and largely unscientific survey.

"Big Business" will follow geographic location, sweetheart tax deals, and low relocation costs. "Small business" is all predicated on the demand for whatever service they offer in a given locale.

It is a bit unrealistic to think of any Florida city as the next NYC or Dallas, but I would have to say that Jacksonville and Orlando probably are as good a location as any for "larger" businesses. Jacksonville especially has cemented a place as a good bridge between the finances of the South and of Florida, hence the proportionally large banking industry there. Cost of living in both places is low, and it is warm.

The rest of Florida is largely based on tourism and real estate, and all attendant industries. Not a bad thing at all.

[simms3]

Miami has already demonstrated its capability of handling large businesses and HQs in their metro with Palm Beach following in pursuit. Tampa has taken a hint by looking over at its big brother, and now Orlando has done the same. Jacksonville is finally jumping on the bandwagon and floowing suit with attracting big corporations with a FL free advertising. I personally think Jax needs more tourism and FL type publicity to attract the same amount of business that south FL once did. National publicity DOES help, and so does having your name out there, and S FL rode that ride with Central FL close behind and now Jax doing the same.

[Florida]

^Like Jacksonville, Tallahassee is also trying to jump on the bandwagon. Its going to be a much harder task for us being that we've relied on Government stability for our local economy for so long. We've got one International Company relocating their HQ from Canada to the city, of course its going to take more than one but you've got to crawl before you walk.

Leaders think they have a plan to add more, so I'll sit back and watch. But surely the recreation/tourism stuff really helps when it comes to brining in the commerce.

[JRS1]

Latest news from the ORL:

Darden Restaurants was looking for a new HQ city recently, and Orange Co. was able to keep them from leaving by offering them a sweet deal. THey're building a new $100M HQ at the SW corner of JYP & 528.

Home Depot also purchased Hughes Supply recently. THey are moving their respective division (HD Supply?) to the Orlando office as a result.