Wake County Accolades To Be Proud Of!

As some of you who know me already know, I am big on sharing facts and news, see my Twitter @GreenBrokerMeg as evidence. Whenever I can be a resource for providing useful facts, I much prefer that over editorializing on the facts and events themselves. I give you the tools to formulate the educated consumer opinion. So I do like to put breaks into my blog writing to share...yes! Even MORE news. Instead of posting the standard blog today, I will share some statistics and accolades that you might find useful especially if you are a Realtor, Builder, Tradesman, Lender, Prospective Seller, anything that has to do with getting your friends, family, clients, buyers to move here!


Wake County's 2009 Accolades

• Raleigh was named #1 “Top City for Small Business” by Bizjournals in February 2009.

• Raleigh was named the “Best Place for Business and Careers” by Forbes.com in March 2009 for the third consecutive year.

• Raleigh was named #1 “City Where Americans Are Relocating” by Forbes.com in April 2009.

• Kiplinger’s named Raleigh #10 “Best City” in May 2009.

• Raleigh-Cary was named #8 “Best Big Cities for Jobs” by Forbes.com in May 2009.

• Raleigh-Durham was named #5 “Metro for Best Quality of Life” by Business Facilities in August 2009.

• Raleigh was named #18 “Best Cities for Working Mothers” by Forbes.com in August 2009.

• Raleigh-Durham was named #8 “Next Hot Youth-Magnet Cities” by The Wall Street Journal in September 2009.

• Sporting News named Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill #17 “Best Sports City” in October 2009.

• Cary was named #19 “Safest U.S. City” by CQ Press in November 2009.

In addition:

Portfolio.com has released its annual small business vitality survey and ranked Raleigh third among the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas profiled. A six-part formula was used to analyze the nation’s 100 largest metros, looking for the places that are most conducive to the creation and development of small businesses. The formula analyzed each metro’s number of small businesses per 1,000 residents, the one-year change in that concentration, one-year growth rates for small businesses and private-sector employment, and five-year rates for population and employment.

The highest scores went to areas that have prosperous economies, are expanding rapidly, and are densely packed with small businesses. (Portfolio defined a small business as any private-sector employer with 99 or fewer employees.)

Raleigh did top all other cities in the five-year growth rate category, showing a 22.5 percent increase in population. Also of note was that Raleigh finished high among the number of small businesses per 1,000 residents, at 27.44.

Additionally, Raleigh was the only North Carolina city to finish in the top 30. Charlotte, second in last year’s survey, fell 29 positions down from that level this time.

This survey confirmed what we have been saying about how our area is resilient amid the national economic downturn. We are ready for business at all levels, and we mean it when we say that when it comes to economic development, Wake County really is “smarter all around.” And you can take that to the bank! :)