Raleigh-Cary Cracks 50 ‘Hottest Cities’ List for Business Expansion, Relocation

RALEIGH, N.C. – Raleigh-Cary and three other North Carolina metropolitan areas cracked the “America’s 50 Hottest Cities” for business expansion and relocation in a new survey.

Expansion Management magazine’s annual report is based on interviews with location consultants around the country.

North Carolina, which is annually ranked as among the top states for corporate expansion and relocations, and Tennessee were the only two states to place four metros on the list. Florida and Texas each placed five. South Carolina was one of four states to place three on the list.

In all, 362 metropolitan statistical areas were considered in the survey. Unlike in years past, however, Expansion Management did not rank the states by preference.

Also making the list from North Carolina were Charlotte, Greensboro-High Point and Winston-Salem.

Charleston, Columbia and Greenville were South Carolina’s selection.

The only pick from Georgia was Atlanta.

Metros were picked based on what clients of the location consultants said were the factors that made them most appealing for places to expand or relocate. Those include business climate, work force quality, operating costs, incentive programs, and the ease of working with local political and economic development officials

“Unlike our other annual economic and demographic rankings, the annual Hot Cities poll reflects the perceptions of professional site location consultants, who play a key role in helping companies select locations for future facility expansions,” said Bill King, chief editor of Expansion Management. “We’ve presented this year’s 50 Hottest Cities list alphabetically; in the opinion of both the editors and the site consultants, numerical ranking diminished the significance of simply making the list.

“These cities have a built-in advantage when companies look to site a new manufacturing or distribution facility, or headquarters operations,” he added. “They are well-prepared to attract and retain businesses. They have logistical advantages, a high quality of life, an available work force, and favorable tax and political climates.”

Expansion Management is published by Penton Media and is distributed to more than 45,000 corporate executives who have expressed interest in expansion to new geographic areas.

The complete list:

• Albuquerque, N.M. MSA

• Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Ga. MSA

• Austin-Round Rock, Texas MSA

• Birmingham-Hoover, Ala. MSA

• Charleston-North Charleston, S.C. MSA

• Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C.

• Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga. MSA

• Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio-Ky.-Ind. MSA

• Colorado Springs, Colo. MSA

• Columbia, S.C. MSA

• Columbus, Ohio MSA

• Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas MSA

• Denver-Aurora, Colo. MSA

• Des Moines, Iowa MSA

• Flagstaff, Ariz. MSA

• Greensboro-High Point, N.C. MSA

• Greenville, S.C. MSA

• Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, Texas MSA

• Huntsville, Ala. MSA

• Indianapolis, Ind. MSA

• Jacksonville, Fla. MSA

• Kansas City, Mo.-Kan. MSA

• Knoxville, Tenn. MSA

• Longview, Texas MSA

• Louisville, Ky.-Ind. MSA

• Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark. MSA

• Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, Fla. MSA

• Mobile, Ala. MSA

• Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, Tenn. MSA

• Oklahoma City, Okla. MSA

• Orlando, Fla. MSA

• Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Pa.-N.J.-Del.-Md. MSA

• Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. MSA

• Pittsburgh, Pa. MSA

• Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash. MSA

• Raleigh-Cary, N.C. MSA

• Reno-Sparks, Nev. MSA

• Richmond, Va. MSA

• Roanoke, Va. MSA (53)

• San Antonio, Texas MSA

• San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, Calif. MSA

• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. MSA

• Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. MSA

• St. Louis, Mo.-Ill. MSA

• Tallahassee, Fla. MSA

• Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. MSA

• Tulsa, Okla. MSA

• Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C. MSA

• Winston-Salem, N.C. MSA

• Yuma, Ariz. MSA