Downtown New York (Photo credit: sreevishnu)
CNBC has released their “Top States for Business” study, which ranks the 50 U.S. states based on factors like access to capital, cost of living, economy, and more. NY was ranked first in the technology and innovation section, up from 2nd place in 2011. The ranking takes into account the state’s “support for innovation, the number of patents issued to their residents, and the deployment of broadband services.” While NY held the top spot, NJ ranked 13th (down from 8th in 2011) and Connecticut ranked 18th (up from 19th in 2011).
In education, NY also came in first with Connecticut right behind it in second place. Meanwhile, NJ was not far behind with the 4th place position. The education rankings were determined by, “traditional measures of K-12 education including test scores, class size and spending,” and the number of higher institutions in each state. NY’s education ranking remained the same as last year, while NJ dropped from its #2 position from last year, and Connecticut rose from its #3 position in 2011.
Despite the positive results in these categories, NY, NJ, and Connecticut still face challenges in the overall business climate rankings, in which they were ranked 34, 41, and 44, respectively. In addition, NY was at the bottom of the list for both its business friendliness ranking, 50th, and its cost of living ranking, 47th.
CNBC conducted the study using 51 different measures of competitiveness with input from organizations like The National Association of Manufacturers, and The Council on Competitiveness. Additionally, a new socially interactive component is being introduced this year with CNBC‘s “Top States Twitter Battle.” The governors of each state submitted a video to explain why their state should be ranked top for business. Currently, the videos are available to watch on CNBC‘s website. Participants can watch these videos and then vote using their state-specific hashtag (such as #TopStatesNY) for the state that they think ranks top in business. The results of this twitter battle will be announced on July 12th.
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