Alexandria Named Best Small City For Business Climate In Ranking

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Among small cities, Alexandria has the best business climate, according to a new ranking from Business Facilities magazine.

The 18th annual ranking examines which cities do well in attracting and retaining businesses in various industries. This was the second year in a row Business Facilities ranked Alexandria first in the small cities category. Among the notable headquarters in Alexandria are the National Science Foundation, United Way Worldwide, National Industries for the Blind, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and Institute for Defense Analyses. The city is also home to the under-construction Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, one of the motivating factors for Amazon locating its second headquarters in Arlington.

"This ranking is a reflection of our community’s commitment to attracting and retaining businesses across a variety of industries while protecting and promoting the neighborhoods that make us so desirable," said Stephanie Landrum, who works on attracting business to the city as president and CEO of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership. "We're proud of the hard work City Council, our businesses, our residents, and our City staff put in to achieve this balance, and we're delighted to be recognized a second time."

Following Alexandria in the small cities ranking are Wilmington, Delaware; Charleston, West Virginia; Amarillo, Texas; Mobile, Alabama; Greenville, South Carolina; Avondale, Arizona; Joplin, Missouri; Des Moines, Iowa; and South Jordan, Utah.

Neighboring Arlington led the mid-sized cities category, followed by Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Vancouver, British Columbia; Henderson, Nevada; Lubbock, Texas; Madison, Wisconsin; Lexington, Kentucky; Rochester, New York; and Cincinnati, Ohio.

As for the region's top for corporate headquarters, the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria region took the seventh spot. The top metro area was New York City, followed by Chicago-Naperville-Evanston, Illinois; Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas; Dallas-Irving-Plano, Texas; San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, California; and Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, Georgia.