Forbes ranks Knoxville a Top Five Metro
The Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley just improved its national ranking from 17th to fifth in the nation in Forbes magazine's annual business rankings. Based upon performance in eight key categories, the Knoxville metro area outperformed all other Tennessee cities in overall rankings.
"Regional cooperation through the Jobs Now initiative has played a major role," said Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale. "Jobs Now gives us a rallying point, and we see positive results for the region in terms of jobs and capital investment."
"Our continued climb in the national rankings should give all of us reason for optimism about the future of the Innovation Valley," said Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam. "More than ever before, we see the wisdom of working together and leveraging the entire region's assets."
The Forbes ranking comes on the heels of two significant business developments in the Innovation Valley -- the startup of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the announcement that Knox and Blount Counties and the cities of Alcoa and Maryville will work together to develop a one-of-a-kind, 450-acre technology park near McGhee-Tyson airport.
Forbes ranked metro areas on the following categories: cost of doing business, cost of living, job growth, income growth, migration patterns, crime rate, number of colleges, number of college-educated people in the work force and culture/leisure.
This kind of recognition validates our economic initiatives, Ragsdale said. The Forbes ranking, the recent Expansion Management magazine ranking of ninth in the nation, our low cost of doing business and our high quality of life all add up to a strong sense of economic momentum. It makes it easier to recruit corporate headquarters, manufacturers and those researchers and entrepreneurs who will lead the Innovation Valley to a bright future.
The Jobs Now initiative, funded by 170 public and private investors throughout the 16-county Innovation Valley, supports job growth, capital investment and increased annual wages. Economic developers at the local, county, and state levels -- as well as the Tennessee Valley Authority -- actively market the region and respond to business inquiries in a coordinated manner.
Jobs Now Executive Director Mike Harvey. "It's the combined assets -- not just what one city or county can offer -- that allow us to make economic progress."