Knoxville breaks into top ten 'Hottest Cities' list
The greater Knoxville area - branded nationally as the Innovation Valley - just joined the elite list of America's ten hottest places to do business.
The ranking appears in the "Hottest Cities" poll in the January-February issue Expansion Management magazine, a trade journal read by some 50,000 business decision makers worldwide. Knoxville ranked ninth among the nation's 362 metropolitan regions. Rankings reflect the opinions of prominent business location consultants who advise companies about where to expand or locate their companies.
"The perceptions and advice of the nation's leading business location consultants make a real difference," said Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale. "Becoming the country's ninth 'HottestCity' shows clearly that we're moving in the right direction, developing a bright future and promoting the InnovationValley as a region. It's a tribute to Jobs Now! and its many investors."
Jobs Now! is an initiative supported by more than 170 private and public partners to increase jobs and capital investment in the region.
"Knoxville is getting well-deserved attention for being a great place to locate, expand and grow businesses and I believe this is confirmation that economic development strategies - particularly our Jobs Now! initiative - is responsible for that success," Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam said. "This ranking is an achievement that will really put Knoxville and our region on the map when businesses are looking to locate or expand their business."
Consultants participating in the poll considered the metropolitan areas they are most likely to recommend to business clients. They considered such factors as overall business climate, work force quality, operating costs, incentive programs and the ease of working with local political and economic development officials, according the Expansion Management editor Bill King.
"This is good news for the whole region," said Haslam. "There's only one way to become a top 10 metro area -- and that's by working together, building upon our strengths, and marketing the InnovationValley concept nationally. It's working."
Knoxville ranked 14th in the 2004 poll, which was the first year the city was mentioned in the annual top 50 "Hottest Cities" survey.
Inc. magazine); area's quality of life, logistics and workforce quality (Expansion Management); best place for business and a career (Forbes); and affordability (Sperling's Best Places).