Business Facilities notes Utah's quality of life, education climate

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is at the top or near it in several categories of a new annual ranking of best places to do business.

"Across all of our key rankings categories, Utah clearly exhibited the most dramatic improvement of any state in the nation," Jack Rogers, editor in chief of the New Jersey-based Business Facilities magazine, said in a news release highlighting its Rankings Report.

According to the list, Utah's rankings this year compared to last year's (in parentheses) included:

 No. 1, quality of life (9).

 No. 2, best education climate (5).

 No. 3, best business climate (4).

 No. 3, geothermal power-generation leaders (new ranking category).

 No. 7, economic growth potential (new ranking category).

 No. 7, employment leaders (new ranking category).

 No. 8, best transportation infrastructure (not in top 10 last year).

 No. 10, best business tax climate (not in top 10 last year).

To assess a state's business climate, the magazine examines more than 20 input factors, including the state's rankings for cost of labor, business tax climate, quality of life, transportation infrastructure, educated work force and economic growth potential.

"All Utahns can take pride in the fact that these high marks from Business Facilities form a report card of sorts in several subjects important to economic development and developers in our great state," Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said in response to the report. "And what it shows is that Utah is getting nearly straight A's when it comes to business development and potential future job growth."

In particular, Rogers noted Utah's climb of one spot this year to No. 3 in best business climate, which is considered by the magazine as the premier category in the rankings. The Beehive State followed Texas at No. 1 and Virginia with the No. 2 placing.

"Utah continues to see accolades coming its way on almost a monthly, if not a weekly, basis," said Spencer Eccles, executive director of the Governor's Office of Economic Development. "These high marks come from the economic development industry itself and form the basis of a blueprint that companies will use as they consider Utah for their next great move or expansion in business."

e-mail: jthalman@desnews.com