Provo/Orem ranks sixth for business

PROVO — Forbes Magazine has ranked the Provo/Orem metropolitan area as the sixth best place in the nation "for business and careers."

The Forbes annual survey focused on income, job growth, and the cost of doing business — which includes the prices of labor, energy, taxes and office space.

The analysts who compiled the rankings also considered crime rates, housing costs, net migration and the qualifications of the available labor pool.

"It's always nice to have others recognize what we have known all along," Provo Mayor Lewis Billings said.

Provo and Orem have previously been ranked as two of the safest cities in America, and Provo was ranked the No. 1 spot in the nation for entrepreneurs in 2001 by the National Commission for Entrepreneurship. That study found that between 1992 and 1997, 332 companies in Provo grew by 15 percent.

Ken Berlack, communications director for the National Commission for Entrepreneurship, said Provo had established itself as a city known for being very hospitable to high-tech firms.

The Provo/Orem area ranked sixth in the category of advanced degrees in the Forbes survey, 23rd in the crime rate category, and 19th for educational attainment.

Orem Mayor Jerry Washburn said people come here because of the quality of life and stay because it's a good place to raise a family. He also said the highly educated workforce makes Provo and Orem an attractive place for high tech business.

"Sometimes some of us focus so much on what needs to be fixed, we sometimes overlook the positives," Billings said.

Austin, Texas ranked first in the survey, followed by Boise, Idaho, Raleigh-Durham, N.C., and Atlanta, Georgia.

The fifth annual survey was compiled by analysts at Economy.com, a West Chester, Pa.-based economic and financial research firm.

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