We've always known Spokane's a great place to live (we have our own selfish reasons), but actually Spokane's a great place for your business and career...at least Forbe's thinks so. Forbe's, one of the ultimate aggregators of arbitrary "Best of" lists has once again released it's Best Places for Business and Careers and in doing so has anointed Spokane as #9. Yes #9 - there's no '0' missing, and that's up from #20 last year. But hey, compared to 2000 (#159) and 2003 (#100) we'll take it.
The listmakers looked at multiple categories to come up with their rankings which included:
- Five-year historical job growth
- Five-year historical income growth
- Migration trends
- A business cost index consisting of a mix: labor, tax, energy, office space costs
- A living cost index consisting of housing, transportation, food, etc.
Boise still reigns at #2, Seattle was below us at #20, and Portland at #35 - our cost of doing business and job growth were big factors.
- 2008 - Forbes Best Places for Business and Careers Index [Forbes.com]
- Apparently Forbes loves Spokane [metrospokane]
- Forbes points to Spokane...again [metrospokane]
I would be very interested to learn if and when Seattle/Portland enjoyed our rank according to Forbes. Does this mean we're destined to "gentrify" in the same manner Seattle and Portland have, ultimately sliding back down the 'Business Opportunity' scale as our cost of living increases, etc?
Is there a way to craft economic policy that sustains long-term growth as opposed to merely exploiting our present position as an "inferior product city" in the national urban market?
P.S. And if 'Career Opportunity' is so great around here then why do I only have the option of 3 or 4 employers if I actually want to utilize my undergraduate degree?
Why does it seem so darn impossible to do the kind of community development work I want to do full time?
Why do the powers-that-be think all they need to do to solve our workforce development gap is sponsor a career fair and throw a couple of networking events?
Just wondering . . .
Posted by: genuinely concerned | March 20, 2008 at 11:07 AM
Congrats Spokane!
Deep down I always knew this city had the potential to gain national attention- in a good way.
Tomorrow I'm moving to San Francisco to start a new future there.
Thank-you Metro Spokane for allowing me to voice my opinions and concerns on here.
From time to time, I will continue to look on the Metro Spokane site to see how things are progressing in Spokane.
Again congratulations to the city for being #9.
Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Andrew Waddilove | March 20, 2008 at 11:57 AM
T'would accelerate the trend if WSU were to decide to build their new School for Global Animal Health in Spokane. Is anyone trying to persuade them how well it would fit on the SIRTI campus?
Posted by: Contrarian | March 21, 2008 at 01:47 AM
This is a good thing.
Posted by: MK | March 23, 2008 at 07:19 PM
I am not sure I agree about the ranking of #9. From my experience, Spokane is not exactly a hotbed of top careers. It took me a while before I found a good job that wasn't in the medical field. I have been using http://spokane.konnects.com to network with other Spokane professionals.
Spokane is great if you are old or you work in the medical field. Tech wise, there isn't much in Spokane. I think Spokane could be a great city for somebody who has a lot of experience, but as far as young professionals go, I think it is terrible. I know a lot of recent grads from GU Law and tons of them had a tough time finding a job in Spokane.
Forbes is off its rocker on ranking Spokane #9.
Posted by: Rachael | March 24, 2008 at 05:45 PM
Forbes doesn't care if you found a good job in Spokane or not. They measured the following for almost every city in the nation:
1)Five-year historical job growth
2)Five-year historical income growth
3)Migration trends
4)A business cost index consisting of a mix: labor, tax, energy, office space costs
5) A living cost index consisting of housing, transportation, food, etc.
Out of that statistical analysis they found Spokane to rank as 9th best in the country. It's not up for debate. It doesn't mean you'll personally find a good job or that you'll love your job it just means that out of the criteria they chose Spokane was in the top ten nationwide. And I repeat, this is a good thing.
Posted by: MK | March 24, 2008 at 06:39 PM
CNN used remarkably similar data and placed Spokane at 77 on their 2008 “100 best places to start a business" list. Apparently, the position IS up for debate.
Posted by: Transplant | March 26, 2008 at 03:10 PM