Mississippi 9th with biz-development mag

Area Development magazine, for the third straight year, has conducted a survey of nationally-respected location consultants to name their Top 5 states with whom to do business. States were ranked in each of 14 categories. The No. 1 state on the magazine’s Top 10 was Texas – by a wide margin. Regionally, Alabama was fourth followed by Louisiana (6), Tennessee (7) and Mississippi at No. 9. The Magnolia State scored quality marks in competitive utility rates, competitive labor costs, speed of permitting, and overall cost of doing business. Source: Area Development Online, Winter 2013.