The state’s average grade, however, still keeps corporate site selectors from considering it when thinking about commercial real estate leases and investment in the West.
Like the namesake of the state’s capital city, Arizona is rising out of the ashes of the Great Recession to improve its pro-business ranking of states.
But it’s not a move to really cheer about.
We at Commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson are happy that Arizona made it out of the bottom half of states that are friendly to business. That’s according to the report Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2011.
Since 2007 the state has languished below the 25th spot. Last year it crawled to the 21st spot, meaning 20 states were more pro-business than Arizona.
That puts us in the middle of the pack, pretty average considering Arizona ranked 15th in 2004.
Arizona’s Report Card
New to the report by Pollina Corporate Real Estate Inc. are state report cards. Arizona received an overall grade of “C,” unchanged since 2007.
Here’s the breakdown:
“A” Grade
- Right to work
- Unemployment insurance
- Property tax
- Business inventory tax
“B”
- Workers compensation
- Litigation environment
“C”
- College completion
- Corporate tax index
- Individual tax index
- Transportation infrastructure
- Cost of electricity
- Marketing/Website/Response to new and existing employers
- Professional training
“D”
- High school completion
- Average teacher compensation
- Unemployment rate
- Budget deficit
- Crime rate
- Incentives
“F”
- Sales and gross receipt tax
Why This Matters
Corporate site selectors look at all of these factors when considering where to make commercial real estate leases or investments for their companies.
They may not take a look at an average state like Arizona, which means lost opportunity for business development and job growth.
The 2011 report says the West “has…become the pro-business leader, thus showing the greatest potential for job growth.” Seven of the top 10 pro-business states are from this region.
Those are a lot of states that corporations and businesses who want to locate in the West will look at first before they consider Arizona. We’ll get left out if we continue to ignore the need to improve on many fronts in order to get in the game.
Commercial Real Estate Group of Tucson specializes in representing tenants and corporate users across the United States. For more information call 520-299-3400.
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