From the Desk of the Editor in Chief
Every month, Business Facilities publishes a department we call Metro Spotlight, in which we highlight the attractions of a single metropolitan area and try to tell you everything you need to know if you are considering locating your next facility in this community.
This month, we publish the ultimate Metro Spotlight: our 2009 Metro Rankings Report.
On these pages, we have put all of the MSAs in the country under our statistical and analytical microscope and compared them to each other. As we do with our annual state rankings, we have made our best effort to apply a unique set of criteria that gives added credibility to the results.
Some of the winners may surprise you, but rest assured they all are worthy of consideration for your next site selection decision. We predict that our new ranking for Best Economic Growth Potential will become one of our most coveted designations.
We also are saddened to report in this issue the loss of Mike Hickey, who passed away last month after a battle with cancer at the age of 59. Mike was a longtime member of the Business Facilities Editorial Advisory Board, and a popular speaker at our LiveXchange events. We valued his wise counsel as a leading economic development professional and strategist.
Mike was one of this magazine’s strongest pillars, and he was a great friend to all who knew him. He will be sorely missed.
