Abilene was named among the top ten of the least expensive cities in which to own a business by the Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey.
The survey is conduct by the Rose Institute of State and Local Government. It analyzes cities’ property taxes and business license fees as well as economic incentives and programs cities may offer to incoming businesses.
Richard Burdine, assistant city manager for economic development in Abilene, said the survey could help businesses decide where to move or get started.
“A business that’s thinking about relocating may look at that survey and think about coming here,” Burdine said. “It helps when cities are consistently near the top.”
Based in California, the survey started in 1994 and only examined fiscal information for major California communities. Now the Kosmont-Rose Institute Cost of Doing Business Survey examines over 413 cities and markets nationwide.
Cities are ranked under one of five categories ranging from ‘Very Low Cost’ to ‘Very High Cost’. In its release, the survey stated its goal to serve “as a ‘tie-breaker’ for companies that are contemplating a move or an expansion and have already determined the best combination of factors important to them.”
However, Burdine isn’t sure of the importance surveys play in the role of a business deciding to come to Abilene.
“There’s a lot of surveys out there that a business may look at, and it’s hard to tell how they are being used in the businesses world,” Burdine said. “In my years in site development, I’ve never talked to a business which said that they based their decision on coming to Abilene on what a survey said.”
The ten least expensive cities for a businesses the city listed are in alphabetical order Abilene, TX; Austin, TX; Cheyenne WY; Corpus Christi, TX: Eugene, OR; Everett, WA; Fort Worth, TX; Houston, TX; Reno, NV; and Yakima, WA.
Texas has six of the the top twenty least expensive cities for businesses, Dallas among them.
The top ten most expensive include Chicago, IL New York, NY, Phoenix, AZ; San Francisco, CA and others.
(I have an interview tomorrow so expect another 50 words)
