An annual study by Chief Executive Magazine ranks Florida as the second best state to do business in, for the second year in a row, a raise of four spots since Gov. Rick Scott took office in 2010.
The study surveyed 736 CEOs, the highest response rate in the nine years of the report, who gave their opinions about the best and worst states in which to do business based on various metrics that the CEOs themselves regard as critical. These categories include taxation, regulation, quality of the workforce, and living environment.
“In the minds of most leaders, a state’s friendliness is closely aligned with its tax and regulatory regime,” read the study’s release. “Similarly, workforce quality also measures the perceived cooperativeness of workers with management, as well as the people’s general work ethic and education attainment. The living environment metric measures the perceived quality of education and public health facilities, as well as the affordability and quality of real estate, the transportation system and related environmental factors.”
For nine years in a row, Texas ranks first and California last on this list. Florida’s rank has varied, dropping to 6th place in 2010, and climbing back to 3rd in 2011 and 2nd ever since.
Among the comments that CEOs made about Florida in the 2013 study, many cite the state’s governor as bonus to the state’s business environment.
“Florida has a warm welcome mat, Governor that is business friendly, less regulatory barriers, competitive incentives,” reads one.
And, “Florida has gained significant momentum with the new Governor, who actually has Manufacturing on the top priority list of his agenda,” reads another.
Yet not all CEOs look favorably upon Florida’s political environment, with some describing the state as high in corruption, saying for example, “Florida is extremely corrupt. If it was not for the widespread corruption, its business climate would improve.”
Other CEOs offered more constructive feedback to the Sunshine State, such as saying Florida could improve with “combined incentives” for the state in which “every city is an island”, and “the startup and small growing business culture is horrible.”
In a statement, Gov. Scott said that the survey validates his efforts to improve Florida’s economy, showing that “CEOs from around the nation recognize it’s working in Florida.”
Other southern states to make the Top 10 list include South Carolina at 8th, and Georgia at 10.
