Virginia Named Best Place To Do Business A Record 5th Time: CNBC

VIRGINIA — CNBC named Virginia as the nation’s “Top State for Business” in 2021 on Tuesday, giving the state five first-place finishes since CNBC debuted the rankings in 2007.

Virginia also was ranked the top state for business in 2019, the last time CNBC released the rankings. CNBC did not publish rankings in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With its five wins in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2019 and 2021, Virginia surpassed Texas for most years as the top state for business.

“Virginia continues to be the best place to do business because of our world-class education institutions, talented workforce, and shared commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion,” Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said in a statement Tuesday.

The other states in the top five of the CNBC ranking were North Carolina at No. 2, followed by Utah, Texas and Tennessee. None of these states has strong labor laws, a factor that business analysts often find appealing when judging states' business climates.

Democratic leaders in the General Assembly once again blocked proposals during the 2021 legislative session to repeal Virginia’s right-to-work law.

Right-to-work repeal has become a key dividing line for Virginia Democrats, with more centrists like House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who is running for governor again this year, dismissing it as an effort that could hurt the state’s business climate and liberals pushing it as a step to help workers.

The right-to-work law, which dates back to 1947 in Virginia, prevents unions from forcing workers to pay union dues as a condition of their employment, a practice that effectively weakens organized labor.

Northam celebrated Virginia’s top ranking on Tuesday with Democratic leaders in the General Assembly at the Port of Virginia in Norfolk.

The governor joined CNBC for a live broadcast Tuesday morning, where the winner was revealed following a study of 85 distinct metrics across 10 competitiveness categories. CNBC’s scorecard highlighted the Virginia’s highly educated workforce, strong economy, and stable business environment. The study also gives Virginia top scores for education, infrastructure, and technology and innovation.

After the announcement, Northam and the leaders in the General Assembly held a news conference where Northam said, “If CNBC says it, you can believe.”

In 2021, CNBC adapted its formulas for determining the top states for business to address the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic impacts, with a new focus on areas like health care, inclusiveness and sustainability.

States can earn a maximum of 2,500 points across the 10 categories, and Virginia received a total of 1,587 points.

Since Northam took office in January 2018, Virginia has created nearly 90,000 new jobs and attracted more than $45.4 billion in statewide capital investment. Companies like Amazon, Facebook and Micron have chosen to move their operations to Virginia during this period.

The state has focused on improving infrastructure as a way to create economic opportunities. These efforts include improvements to the heavily traveled Interstate 81 corridor, an expansion project that will make the Port of Virginia the deepest port on the East Coast, and the Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative to build a 21st-century statewide rail network across the state.

Northam and fellow Democrats are making an effort to tout the CNBC rankings in a major election year in the state. Residents will be voting for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general in November. In addition, all 100 House of Delegates will be up for grabs in November's general election.

The Republican nominee for governor, Glenn Youngkin, former CEO of The Carlyle Group, has criticized Northam’s policies as being outside the mainstream and has vowed to reverse some of them. He has also accused the governor of mismanaging the pandemic by keeping schools and businesses closed for too long.

His competitor for governor, McAuliffe, is expected to use CNBC's top ranking as a major theme of his campaign.

"Virginia is once again the top state in the nation for business and the reasons why are clear: for the past eight years we have fought to create a stronger economy that lifts up everyone and to keep our state open and welcoming to all," McAuliffe said in a statement Tuesday.

Youngkin's "focus on divisive social crusades, Trumpian conspiracy theories, and threats to defund our schools would jeopardize our economic progress and take our Commonwealth back," McAuliffe said. "That's not a recipe for a 'rip-roaring economy,' it's a roadmap to economic chaos and watching businesses flee our state."