Indiana was ranked as the best place to do business in the Midwest and the sixth best nationwide in a survey of more than 500 chief executives by Chief Executive magazine.
The magazine's seventh annual "Best & Worst States" survey asks CEO's to evaluate states based on business tax policies, regulation, workforce quality and livability factors. Indiana's 2011 ranking is up from 16th place in 2010. It's among the highest year-to-year improvements in the survey.
"This ranking is a validation of the work that Governor Daniels and the General Assembly are doing to make Indiana the best possible place to do business," said Mitch Roob, Secretary of Commerce and chief executive officer of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation. "Amazon's major investment announcement this week tells us that above all else, business climate matters and the pay-off for Hoosiers is new jobs and investment."
Indiana's 6th place ranking makes it the only Midwestern state in the publication's top 10. Among neighboring states, Kentucky ranked 17th, Ohio ranked 41st, Michigan ranked 46th and Illinois ranked 48th.
The Chief Executive magazine rankings come less than a week after the state announced that it was the recipient of a 2011 Gold Shovel Award from Area Development magazine. The publication's top honor for economic development efforts, the Gold Shovel was awarded based on the state's 2010 performance in categories including total job creation, job creation per-capita, new capital investment and number of new facilities.
Chief Executive magazine is a bi-monthly publication for top management executives published by the Chief Executive Group LLC. Founded in 1977, the Chief Executive Group LLC is headquartered in Greenwich, Conn. The "Best & Worst States," survey results are available at: http://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-for-business
About IEDC Created by Governor Mitch Daniels in 2005 to replace the former Department of Commerce, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation is governed by a 12-member board chaired by Governor Daniels. Mitch Roob serves as the chief executive officer of the IEDC. For more information about IEDC, visit www.iedc.in.gov.