Forbes released its annual list of the Best Places for Business and Careers on March 19, 2008 and Boise moved up one spot from No. 3 in 2007. For a fourth straight year, Boise landed in the top 5 in the rankings compiled by national business magazines. Common themes for the business-welcoming metros include solid job growth, an educated labor supply and low business costs.
Boise ranked highest in job growth at 13. It also ranked 17th for the cost of doing business and 15th for net migration. Kurt Badenhausen, associate editor at Forbes, said the rankings aren't based on just one year of data, but on five years.
"Every area has its highs and lows, but on an overall long-term basis we look at the long-term strength," he said. "In Boise you may not think things are going so well, but a lot of places in the country are really hurting a lot more."
In 2005, Boise took the top spot but dropped to No. 4 in 2006 before climbing to No. 3 in 2007.
Badenhausen said only Boise and Raleigh have been the most consistent top performers, appearing on the list more often than other cities. He credits both areas' steady economic performance.
Forbes' rankings cover the 200 largest metro areas (populations over 240,000) as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and are based on nine factors including five-year historical job and income growth, migration trends, business cost index, which considers labor, tax, energy and office space costs, and its living cost index, which factors in housing, transportation, food and other household expenditures.
The rest of the data for the rankings was furnished by Portland, Ore., demographer Bertrand Sperling, who last year published the second edition of Cities Ranked & Rated along with Peter Sander. He provided stats on crime, educational attainment, presence of four-year colleges and an index on cultural and recreational opportunities
Kevin Benedict, CEO of MobileDataforce, left the crowds of Seattle to move his family to Boise eight years ago and hasn't regretted it once. Boise's strong reputation has helped him boost sales at his software business and attract employees, Benedict said. Only a handful of his 47 employees are from Boise. To close a sale, he often brings a potential client to Boise and gives a tour of the area, often with activities like fly fishing. "We have a 90 percent close rate when we have a company come visit us, so we promote the heck out of Boise," Benedict said.
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