News Releases for May 2005
May 6, 2005
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Hoeven: Fargo, Bismarck Make Forbes Top Five Places For Business, Careers
BISMARCK, N.D. - Governor John Hoeven today commended Bismarck and Fargo for ranking within the top five best small metro areas in the nation to do business and advance careers. Grand Forks also ranked 30th out of the 168 communities included in the report.
Published in the May 5 issue of Forbes magazine, the 2005 Forbes list of Best Places for Business and Careers placed Fargo at 4th; Bismarck at 5th; and Grand Forks at 30th. Small metro areas are communities with populations of 345,000 or less. According to Hoeven, the strong rankings confirm that North Dakota's economy continues to head in the right direction, building upon the progress we have made during the past several years.
"The rankings from Forbes validate our hard work in the area of economic development and improving the quality of life for the citizens," Hoeven said. "We have always known that North Dakota is a great place to live, work, and do business and this report shows that others across the country recognize it as well."
Lee Peterson, commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Commerce, said that a lot of hard work is going on across the state to grow the economy and the Forbes report proves it. "It confirms the kind of progress we are making toward creating quality, high-paying jobs for our citizens by building a business friendly environment right here in North Dakota."
The Forbes rankings are based on a sum of rankings in nine categories on wage and salary growth, job growth, activity in critical industries that foster future growth, and quality life issues, among other criteria.
Forbes seventh annual ranking of Best Places for Business and Careers relies on Economy.com, the West Chester, Pa. research firm, which assisted Forbes weigh business costs and living costs. Economy.com also assisted Forbes assess the education levels of the work force, as well as job and income growth and migration patterns over the past five years. For quality-of-life issues, Forbes examined crime rates and used a culture-and-leisure index developed by Bertrand Sperling, a consultant in Portland, Oregon.
In addition to ranking 168 small metro communities, the study also ranked the top 200 metropolitan areas. Visit www.forbes.com/home/lists/2005/05/05/05bestplaces.html to view this year's rankings.
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