Monday, December 17, 2007
Area a top spot for business
In its May issue, Inc. Magazine ranked the Auburn-Opelika area No. 19 on its Top 20 BoomTown List of best small cities to do business and ranked it No. 30 nationwide, which is 15 spots ahead of last year’s No. 45 ranking.
May 7, 2007
In its May issue, Inc. Magazine ranked the Auburn-Opelika area No. 19 on its Top 20 BoomTown List of best small cities to do business and ranked it No. 30 nationwide, which is 15 spots ahead of last year’s No. 45 ranking.
“I’m glad to see Opelika-Auburn recognized in this manner by Inc. Magazine,“ Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said. “It is no surprise to me that we’re in the Top 20 of Best Small Cities or that we moved up 15 spots to No. 30 nationwide. All segments of our economy are strong. Opelika is truly a great place to live, work and raise a family. I’m very confident job growth in Opelika and Auburn will continue by expansion of existing business and new plants. Jobs, high paying jobs, provide the engine that creates residential and retail growth.“
On a slide show presentation at Inc. Magazine’s Web site, http://www.inc.com, a photo of historic Downtown Opelika graces the No. 19 spot under “The Top 20 Small Cities For Doing Business.“ The Auburn-Opelika area was the only small Alabama city on the Top 20 List compiled by Michael Shires, a professor of public policy at Pepperdine University. The list was based on an employment base of less than 150,000. The Auburn-Opelika area’s hottest industries included, business services, wholesale, education and health.
“I think that both Auburn and Opelika together is an excellent area,“ said Phillip Dunlap, Auburn economic develop director. “We have a major university, interstate, good quality of life, excellent school systems and all that goes into making it a desirable place to live.“
In a “Boomtowns ’07” article, Joel Kotkin writes in the magazine, “As always, our rankings put the focus on job growth, which we believe is the best measure of economic vitality. Strong job growth suggests that an economy is expanding-which means plenty of opportunity. What’s more, the Small Business Administration estimates that as many as three-quarters of new jobs are created by small companies; as a result, regions showing strong job creation are likely to be hotbeds of entrepreneurial activity. To compile the rankings, Inc. examined job-growth data, supplied by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on 393 metropolitan statistical areas. We analyzed current-year employment growth, as well as average annual job growth over the past three years, and compared job growth in the first and second halves of the period comprising the past 10 years.“
Opelika Economic Development Director Al Cook said the area is definitely booming.
“Anytime our area is recognized as being one of the hottest areas in the country it’s a good thing,“ Cook said. “This is just another bullet in our collective bandoleer.“
Meanwhile, Alabama received an award Monday in Montgomery for having the best state economic development agency. Dunlap was there to hear the announcement as Site Selection magazine named the Alabama Development Office as the winner of the 2006 Competitiveness Award. During the announcement, Gov. Bob Riley pinpointed the recent accomplishments made by the City of Auburn staff, recruiting approximately 17 companies last year and drawing in nearly $162 million in capital investment.
“He said that within the last year we had an exceptional year and that’s why (the State of Alabama) is so successful, because communities like Auburn are out there trying to recruit this business for Alabama,“ Dunlap said.
opelika;