Region Among Top Cities

The Richmond region has been recognized in the recent issues of two magazines as one of the nation’s top cities for business, careers and corporate headquarters.

The latest issue of Forbes magazine ranks the region No. 12 among the “Best Places for Business and Careers.”

Business Facilities magazine in its April issue ranks the Richmond region No. 11 among the “Best Cities for Corporate Headquarters.”

Austin, Atlanta and Dallas rank ahead of the Richmond region on the Forbes list. But the Richmond region outranks places such as Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Santa Rosa, California.

Working with Economy.com, an economic and financial research firm, Forbes evaluated each city based on income, job growth and cost of doing business. For the first time, it also considered crime rates, housing costs and net migration.

Business Facilities magazine developed its “Best Cities for Corporate Headquarters” list by surveying corporate real estate executives, site-selection consultants and real estate professionals. The magazine discovered that “it’s the intangibles like prestige and recognition” that count heavily in corporate headquarters location.

Large cities such as Atlanta, New York, Charlotte and Chicago, as might be expected, lead the “Corporate Headquarters” list. The Richmond region, however, ranks ahead of places such as Denver and Jacksonville, Florida.