FIRST WORD: Work In Progress

From the July/August 2013 issue

With this issue, Business Facilities unveils a new design for our magazine. We hope you like the crisp new graphics and our clean, easier-to-read typeface, which won’t have you reaching for the eye drops.

It’s always a good idea to take a fresh look at your presentation once in a while, especially if you’ve still got a suit in your closet with 18-inch lapels from the 1970s. (I tried to get the production manager to improve my First Word headshot, but she told me special effects can only go so far).

We take the same approach with our annual rankings. Like the yearly evaluations that preceded it, the 9th Annual Business Facilities Rankings Report in this issue remains a work in progress. Because we spend most of our time on the front lines of economic development, we understand the need to adjust our criteria periodically to reflect changing priorities.

In this year’s report, we’ve expanded and refined our energy-related rankings to identify the states with the smallest carbon footprint as well as the leaders in natural gas production, among other new categories. We also took a much closer look at infrastructure, which was tough because bridges and roads seem to be crumbling nationwide. We resisted the temptation to create a Worst Infrastructure category, which would have been a 20-state tie.

So pull up a comfortable chair and find out who reigns supreme among state, metro and international locations. We hope you agree that the credibility of our rankings continues to improve—and that our new look is snazzy.