Hot Cities
Our annual ranking of the nation's top entrepreneurial spots.
No Big Apple. No City of Angels. No Windy City. Much like in
years past, our 1998 annual ranking of the best cities in the
nation for small business takes us off the beaten path and onto
roads less traveled. Not that there aren't cities you'll
recognize on our list--neither Atlanta nor Orlando, Florida, are
obscure destinations by any stretch--but we're always surprised
by the results of the survey we conduct with Dun & Bradstreet
(D&B).
Then again, maybe we're not too surprised. Major
metropolitan areas tend to be ultra-competitive as well as
notoriously high in business failures. According to Steve Hess,
D&B's director of analytical services, setting up shop in
commercial behemoths like Los Angeles also runs on the costly side.
"Certainly, there are a lot of customers in markets like
these," says Hess, "but they are very expensive places to
[do business]."
Which brings us back to the cities--or, for statistical purists,
the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs)-that made it into our
ranking this year. Notice the strong showing of the Carolinas.
Look, too, at the stellar performances of both Florida and Texas.
And, fittingly enough, the home of the Indianapolis 500 raced onto
our list as well.
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"Memphis is an up-and-coming city," adds Hess,
referring to this year's 11th-best large MSA and a new addition
to the list. "More and more big companies are moving into
Memphis, which will add a lot of opportunities for small
companies."