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Tag: Top States for Business

Va. lands back on top in CNBC survey

After downplaying his Democratic predecessor’s consecutive wins in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business study, Gov. Glenn Youngkin found himself as Virginia’s top cheerleader on CNBC July 11, playing the commonwealth regained its crown as No. 1.

With this year’s win, the state has been named the nation’s top state for business a record six times, although it was the
first No. 1 ranking during Youngkin’s tenure. Last year, the Old Dominion scored second place behind North Carolina, but this year the Tar Heel State slid back to the No. 2 slot.

“How exciting and what an honor it is to have CNBC here recognizing Virginia as the top state for business,” Youngkin said in a live interview on the financial news cable network. “I think we work incredibly well together. Economic development is a team sport, and our administration has taken huge strides over the last 2 1/2 years to address some real areas of importance.”

Those include readying more sites for economic development, the governor pointed out. The 2024 CNBC rankings weighted infrastructure greatest this year, with the network noting that Virginia has a “wealth of shovel-ready sites the state offers for companies that want to build fast.” Virginia ranked third in the nation for infrastructure, in addition to retaining first place for education. Home to the world’s greatest concentration of data centers, the commonwealth also ranked fourth for artificial intelligence.

The CNBC win came during a busy week for Youngkin, who announced that LS GreenLink USA, a subsidiary of a South Korean cable manufacturer, plans to build a $681 million subsea cable manufacturing plant in Chesapeake that’s expected to create 338 jobs. The facility would produce cables used for offshore wind farms — the first such facility in the United States. The next day, the governor was on hand for a Dominion Energy announcement that the Fortune 500 utility issued a request for proposals for developing a small modular reactor at Louisa County’s North Anna nuclear power plant in the next decade.

Economic development has been one area where Republicans and Democrats can find some common ground, even when there are disputes over corporate tax cuts desired by the governor, or when projects are opposed by Democratic legislators, such as the failed Alexandria sports arena touted by Youngkin.

While Virginia still has a way to go to attract as many $1 billion-plus megaprojects as other states, clearly the governor’s focus — and funding — for site preparation has created momentum both in terms of business interest and media recognition.   

Virginia is CNBC’s Top State for Business for record sixth time

Virginia regained its crown as the No. 1 state in CNBC’s annual America’s Top States for Business rankings released Thursday, winning the top spot for a record sixth time.

The cable business news network once again praised Virginia for having “the nation’s best education system and policies that give companies room — both literally and figuratively — to grow.” In particular, the Old Dominion ranked first place in the nation for education, third for infrastructure and fourth for artificial intelligence, with CNBC noting that the commonwealth is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers, through which more than 70% of the world’s internet traffic travels.

“But where Virginia’s infrastructure really shines is in the wealth of shovel-ready sites the state offers for companies that want to build fast,” the network said. “The state’s economic development arm has certified dozens of sites across the commonwealth, promising that all utilities and infrastructure can be in place within 18 months.”

Virginia ranked fifth for business friendliness, with CNBC noting that the commonwealth wasn’t “friendly enough” to land a pet project of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a failed proposal to build a $2 billion arena in Alexandria for the Washington Capitals and Wizards. (Democratic state Sen. Louise Lucas, chairman of the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee and a key opponent of the deal, tweeted Thursday, “We wouldn’t be the number one state for business if we had wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on a vanity arena project. You’re welcome Wannabe VP Pick for Tyrannical Trump.”)

CNBC also pointed out that though the commonwealth was ranked No. 9 in the nation for workforce, it has a problem with outmigration, with “too many workers moving out [and] not enough moving in.” And it noted that while the commonwealth is rich in data centers, that’s caused a strain on the state’s power grid.

Virginia scored 1,595 out of a possible 2,500 points in the network’s Top States study, finishing in the top 50% or better in each of 10 major categories. The commonwealth came in second to North Carolina in 2023, but this year, the two states switched positions, with North Carolina ranking second. In 2022, Virginia ranked third overall.

In 2021, Virginia took the top spot in the annual rankings of business-friendly states for a second, consecutive time. Virginia also won the top ranking in 2019, 2011, 2009 and 2007, the first year CNBC began ranking the states. CNBC did not rank the states in 2020 due to the pandemic.

“How exciting and what an honor it is to have CNBC here recognizing Virginia as the top state for business,” Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said during a live interview from Virginia Beach on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday. “I think we work incredibly well together. Economic development is a team sport, and our administration has taken huge strides over the last 2 1/2 years to address some real areas of importance. Talent is always top of the list, and our talent accelerator is now rated the top talent accelerator in America.

“Business-ready sites and infrastructure continue to be a top need for businesses, and we’ve allocated $550 million over the last three years to make sure that we have shovel-ready sites. And then, finally, of course, power — our all-American, all-of-the above power plan is taking big strides. Yesterday, we announced a big step for a potential siting of a small modular reactor in Virginia to be the first.”

Youngkin added that he believes $5 billion in tax cuts in the first two years of his term were key to Virginia’s success in attracting and retaining companies. “We made Virginia’s business climate even better by streamlining regulations and cutting the red tape,” the governor said, adding that the state has 240,000 more people employed than it did before his term began in January 2022. He also noted that former members of the military — including 700,000 veterans living in Virginia — are “one of the things that make Virginia great.”

Asked if Virginia is in play this year in the presidential election, Youngkin said he believes it is, even though President Joe Biden won Virginia by 10 points over former President Donald Trump in 2020. “The next year,” the governor said, “we’re able to win it by two.” Youngkin bypassed a question about whether he believed he was still a possible Trump vice presidential candidate pick, but said he is “very enthusiastic about the prospects for President Trump and whoever he chooses as his running mate.”

Highlighting the state’s divided government, House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott lauded Youngkin and Democratic legislators Sen. Louise Lucas and Del. Luke Torian, who chair the two legislative bodies’ finance committees. “We invested in our future — our children. Virginia is back on top,” Scott tweeted. “We raised minimum wages and gave teachers pay raises! More importantly, we protected reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy.”

CNBC based this year’s rankings on 128 metrics — up from 86 last year — across 10 categories: workforce; infrastructure; cost of doing business; economy; life, health and inclusion; technology and innovation; business friendliness; education; access to capital; and cost of living. Infrastructure was the most heavily weighted category this year.

“With six wins — and three in the last five years — Virginia is our most decorated state. It’s easy to see why,” CNBC special correspondent Scott Cohn said. “In both Republican and Democratic administrations, the state has shown how much it cares about business, and how carefully it can listen to companies. Plus, year after year, Virginia offers the training, talent, and the infrastructure for success.”

According to CNBC, Texas, Georgia and Florida rounded out the top five spots in this year’s rankings.

“Being named America’s Top State for Business is a testament to the incredible progress being made throughout the Commonwealth, not least by the many thousands of businesses who call Virginia home,” Virginia Economic Development Partnership President and CEO Jason El Koubi said in a statement. “This recognition is years in the making, and I am incredibly grateful to all of our state, regional and local partners that contributed to this distinction.”

Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and a former state secretary of commerce and trade, issued a statement as well: “Virginia’s ranking as the Top State for Business reaffirms our conviction that Virginia is the premier state for business. It highlights our strong education system, availability of business-ready sites and Virginia’s commitment to economic development and a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. This recognition also supports our strategic approach to grow Virginia’s position as the leading state for business through our targeted policy recommendations in Blueprint Virginia 2030.”

Another former state secretary of commerce and trade, Todd Haymore, now managing director of Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Global Economic Development, Commerce, and Government Relations Group, said, “Over 25 years in public and private sector economic development, I’ve learned that the fundamentals like education, workforce, infrastructure and site readiness are what really matter, and that is where Virginia shines. Virginia is back in the top spot because we invest in the fundamentals, maintain a bipartisan commitment to pro-growth and pro-business policies, and because we have really smart, talented people working to create jobs and opportunity, from the governor’s office to the legislature, and from VEDP all the way down to the local level.”

Virginia’s category rankings in the 2024 CNBC Top States for Business were as follows:
  • First place — Education
  • Third — Infrastructure
  • Fifth — Business friendliness
  • Eighth — Access to capital
  • Ninth — Workforce
  • 10th — Economy
  • 15th — Technology and innovation
  • 19th — Cost of living
  • 19th — Quality of life
  • 24th — Cost of doing business

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews contributed to this article.

Virginia rises to No. 2 in CNBC’s Top States for Business

Rated America’s best state for education, Virginia climbed to the No. 2 spot in CNBC’s 2023 Top States for Business rankings, with North Carolina taking the top spot for the second year in a row.

“Virginia is our most decorated state, a five-time winner,” the cable business news network said Tuesday, “but you’ll pay dearly for doing business here, one reason Virginia comes up just short this year.”

CNBC ranked Virginia the top state for business in 2021, 2019, 2011, 2009 and 2007. This year, while CNBC rated Virginia No. 1 for education and No. 4 in access to capital, it rated the commonwealth 34th for cost of doing business, giving it a C-minus grade. Virginia improved to a C-plus grade in cost of living, up from a D-plus in 2022. CNBC gave Virginia B grades in workforce; infrastructure; economy; life, health and inclusion; and technology and innovation. Virginia scored A’s in business friendliness; education; and access to capital.

Virginia was ranked the No. 3 state for business by CNBC in 2022.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has noted that the high cost of living and doing business, especially in Northern Virginia and other urban sectors, is a major focus for his administration, offering tax cuts as a salve. Another administration focus is getting more industrial sites shovel-ready, to help prepare land for megaprojects like Lego Group’s $1 billion manufacturing plant in Chesterfield County, which broke ground in April.

A major reason Virginia doesn’t have as many big deals like this, compared with North Carolina and other Southern states, is because the state government hasn’t invested nearly as much money in prepping large land tracts for construction. Youngkin proposed $450 million more in the state budget for site preparation, but as of mid-July, Senate Democrats and House Republicans had not passed an amended budget.

“While the governor is always pleased with Virginia receiving accolades, rankings only tell part of the story,” Youngkin’s spokeswoman, Macaulay Porter, said. “Today’s CNBC rankings show that while Virginia has made gains under Governor Youngkin’s leadership, Senate Democrats need to come together to lower the cost of doing business and the cost of living. Virginia needs to move forward as a leader in business and become more competitive and fund critical priorities. The governor’s budget amendments addressed these issues head on with common-sense tax relief for Virginia families and local businesses. Virginians need a budget that moves the commonwealth forward and addresses these obstacles to growth so that Virginia can thrive.”

As for this year’s Top States for Business winner, North Carolina was also rated No. 1 for workforce this year, with CNBC saying of the Tar Heel State, “Educated workers are flocking here, and state worker training programs are among the most effective in the country.” North Carolina’s economy rated third in the nation, as CNBC lauded its “stable state finances and a healthy housing market.” It also ranked seventh for education.

“To win Top State for Business, you got to have the best workforce, and North Carolina has the most well-educated, dedicated and diverse workforce in the country. … We invest in our people. We know that they are the foundation of our success,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Tuesday, speaking with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on the lawn of the historic Biltmore Estate in Asheville.

However, CNBC noted political disharmony in North Carolina, with its Republican legislative supermajority this year passing a 12-week abortion ban over the veto of Cooper, a Democrat. CNBC, which included reproductive rights among its Top State metrics this year, rated North Carolina 34th in the nation for life, health and inclusion.

Also in this year’s rankings, Tennessee came in third place, with CNBC citing its infrastructure and community college system, but knocking the Volunteer State for “high crime and a crackdown on LGBTQ rights.” Georgia took the No. 4 slot, with CNBC noting that Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest airport, but dinging the Peach State for “poor health care and limited worker protections,” rating it 43rd for life, health and inclusion. Minnesota came in fifth overall among states this year. While the North Star State ranked well for road infrastructure and its growing semiconductor industry, CNBC criticized it for higher tax rates and lesser economic development incentives.

CNBC based this year’s rankings on 86 metrics — down from 88 last year — across 10 categories: workforce; infrastructure; economy; life, health and inclusion; cost of doing business; technology and innovation; business friendliness; education; access to capital; and cost of living. Workforce is the most heavily weighted category and considers a state’s concentration of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workers, the percentage of workers with college degrees, and workers with associate degrees and industry-recognized certificates. 

Virginia Business Deputy Editor Kate Andrews and Associate Editor Katherine Schulte contributed to this story.

Making the grade

For Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, this is the state’s rebuilding era.

Although his Democratic predecessor, Gov. Ralph Northam, trumpeted Virginia’s unprecedented consecutive two-time run as CNBC’s Top State for Business, Youngkin has been critical of the state missing out to our Southern neighboring states on big manufacturing deals because of Virginia’s dearth of project-ready industrial land that would enable large facilities to be built within 12 to 18 months.

In this year’s General Assembly, Youngkin proposed adding $450 million to the state budget for industrial site development, on top of $150 million already allocated in the two-year budget. To place this in perspective, Virginia spent about
$1 million a year on site development before 2021. Meanwhile, other Southern states like Georgia and North Carolina far outspent Virginia, and they also won more megaprojects that are expected to yield billions in investments and thousands of jobs.

Between 2015 and 2022, when neighboring states were awarded 120 industrial megaprojects, Virginia won one: Lego Group’s $1 billion toy manufacturing plant in Chesterfield County, announced last June. The Virginia Economic Development Partnership estimated the state lost out on 52,000 jobs and $120 billion in capital expenditures over that seven-year period.

“We’re behind,” Youngkin said in an October 2022 interview with Virginia Business. “It takes time to catch back up. The funding is important. We are … prioritizing the best sites around the commonwealth and starting to invest in them. I think this is going to be our last step of really going to the forefront for these megaprojects. We want them all in Virginia.”

As of this publication’s mid-February deadline, Youngkin’s amendment was still under consideration at the Virginia General Assembly, although it looked likely that Youngkin would get less than the $450 million he requested. 

In January, the Virginia Business Ready Sites Program, a discretionary fund run by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, awarded $90 million in grants for 21 industrial sites statewide. More than half of the money — $25 million and $22.2 million, respectively — went to Upper Magnolia Green, a 1,728-acre site being developed as a technology park by Chesterfield County, and Commonwealth Crossing Business Centre in Henry County, which would have the state’s only 150-acre pad with rail access and utilities.

Curiously, in December 2022, Youngkin veered off the predicted path, when it was reported that he pulled the state from consideration for a $3.5 billion Ford Motor Co. electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant, citing Ford’s ties to a Chinese company that would have run the plant.

Democratic lawmakers cried foul, claiming that Youngkin was playing politics, following the leads of potential GOP presidential candidates Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who have both taken stances against Chinese residents or companies buying land in their states.

In January, answering reporters’ questions about the thwarted Ford deal, which would have produced at least 2,500 jobs in Pittsylvania County, Youngkin said he didn’t want the U.S. automaker to serve as “a front for China” in Virginia. In February, it was announced the plant would locate in Michigan, about 100 miles west of Detroit, with production beginning in 2026.

Aside from Lego, the state notched other economic development wins in 2022, including Plenty Unlimited Inc.’s $300 million indoor vertical farm operation in Chesterfield County and the Richmond and Henrico County expansions of Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., which is expected to create 500 jobs across three new bioanalytical labs.

Elsewhere in the commonwealth, Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. plans to add 350 jobs through an expansion of its Fairfax County-based global headquarters, and Virginia Beach-based DroneUp LLC is expanding its headquarters and building a testing and training center in Dinwiddie County, creating more than 650 jobs. In Caroline County, World Class Distribution Inc., a food and beverage distributor, announced it’s building a $275 million distribution center expected to generate 745 jobs.

Virginia’s casino industry also made a stylish entrance in July 2022, with a temporary version of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol debuting with about 600 jobs, and the $340 million Rivers Casino Portsmouth opening in January as the state’s first permanent casino. Danville’s Caesars Virginia resort and Norfolk’s HeadWaters Resort & Casino are expected to open their permanent casino resorts in 2024.

 

Breaking rank

What a difference a year makes.

On July 13, 2021, against a backdrop of ships blasting their horns and spraying water in celebration at the Port of Virginia’s Norfolk International Terminals, Gov. Ralph Northam sat for a harborside interview with CNBC, which had just named Virginia the nation’s best state for business for an unprecedented second consecutive year. (Virginia previously won the No. 1 spot in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business list in 2019; the cable business news network suspended the 2020 rankings due to the pandemic.)

“This is an exciting day for Virginia,” a grinning Northam said, going on to tout the state’s investment in the port’s infrastructure.

Exactly one year later, under new Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the commonwealth presented a very different response after Virginia was bumped from the top spot by North Carolina, with CNBC ranking the Old Dominion as the nation’s No. 3 state for business in 2022.

There were no news releases sent out from the governor’s office recognizing the fact that coming in third out of 50 is still pretty darn good. Ditto, there were no kudos extended to our southern neighbor.

Instead, when asked by reporters about the rankings, Youngkin said, “I’m always so appreciative of Virginia receiving good accolades … [but] Virginia has not been performing like the best state for business.”

This isn’t a case of sour grapes on Youngkin’s part — it’s a consistent position.

During his campaign for governor, Youngkin downplayed Virginia’s No. 1 ranking, noting that Virginia’s pandemic job recovery numbers in late summer 2021 had placed it among the bottom five states. He’s also been critical of the cost of living and doing business in Virginia, as well as the fact that Virginia lags behind many other states in the availability of large, shovel-ready sites for larger economic development projects. (Incomplete site grading was cited as one factor for why Hyundai chose a site in Savannah, Georgia, for a $5.5 billion electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in May instead of Pittsylvania County’s Southern Virginia Mega Site at Berry Hill.)

CNBC bases its rankings on 88 metrics, including workforce (the most heavily weighted category); education; cost of living; technology and innovation; and access to capital.

“A great education system is building a smart workforce,” CNBC said about Virginia this year, “but migration has slowed to a state where living costs are high.”

In terms of infrastructure, CNBC ranked Virginia ninth best in the nation, citing the commonwealth’s ongoing $3.8 billion Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel expansion, as well as the fact that 89.3% of Virginians have broadband access. (Also, just 4% of bridges and 13% of roads in Virginia are in poor condition, the network noted.)

Nevertheless, CNBC gave Virginia a D+ grade for cost of living and C+ grades for its economy and life, health and inclusion.

To his credit, Youngkin, former co-CEO of Washington, D.C., private equity firm The Carlyle Group, has said that as governor his priorities include job creation and lowering the costs of living and doing business in the commonwealth.

Responding to the CNBC rankings, Youngkin noted that Virginia jobs numbers improved dramatically during the first six months of his administration, and he touted economic development successes such as the June announcement that the Lego Group plans to build a $1 billion toy manufacturing plant in Chesterfield County. Yet, the governor distanced himself a bit from the factors that CNBC criticized, saying that while he’s working to improve the economy, his administration’s also “had to dig out of a hole” he inherited from Northam.

Meanwhile, Virginia Democrats issued a statement, claiming that Youngkin’s “culture war” and stances on issues such as abortion (the governor has proposed banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy) “are driving business away” from Virginia. State Democrats also charged that Youngkin is too focused on his rumored interest in a 2024 presidential bid.

After just six months in office, though, it was probably still a little early for Youngkin to either take credit for the good or blame for the bad. And if Virginia politicos learned any lessons from former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder’s term, it is likely also far too soon to chase national ambitions.

Youngkin, CNBC see room for growth in Va.

In July, Virginia ceded the top spot in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business rankings to neighboring North Carolina, with Virginia taking third place in the annual list. Virginia had previously held the No. 1 slot for a record-breaking two years — a feat no other state has matched in the coveted award’s 15-year history. (Virginia has ranked No. 1 in the annual awards five times, making the top 10 every year but 2016 and 2015, when it ranked 13th and 12th.)

Gov. Glenn Youngkin, while running for office last year as the Republican nominee, downplayed the significance of Virginia’s consecutive wins, which came during the tenure of Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.

Although Virginia’s educated population and openness for new business are reasons it has continued to score at or near the top of CNBC’s list, such accolades “haven’t always translated into growth in Virginia,” Youngkin said in a statement after the 2022 announcement.

The new governor, of course, did mention some economic development wins that have taken place since he took office in January — Lego Group’s announcement that it will build a $1 billion manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County, and the twin announcements that defense contractors Raytheon Technologies Corp. and The Boeing Co. are both moving their global headquarters to Arlington County.

But there’s room for improvement, both Youngkin and CNBC say, particularly in the area of Virginia’s high cost of living, a deterrent to attracting and retaining skilled workers.

Although Virginia is far from alone in experiencing rising residential home sale and rental prices and inflation, CNBC cited the commonwealth’s cost of living as a significant factor in the state’s drop to third place, giving the state a D+ in the category.

Citing the same economic pressures, Youngkin has attempted to remove some of Virginians’ tax burdens, but only somewhat successfully because state Senate Democrats have held his legislative agenda in check.

The state Democratic Party chairwoman, Susan Swecker, took a different view of this year’s Top States for Business ranking, saying that Youngkin’s “focus on running for president in 2024 and playing to a far-right base” caused the state to drop to third place.

The truth likely lies somewhere in the middle, since CNBC’s 88 areas of consideration include factors that were influenced by Northam’s administration and two years of the Democratic-led legislature, as well as during Youngkin’s first six months on the job with a divided statehouse.

As you’ll see in this year’s Site Locator, Virginia has both a strong workforce development pipeline as well as a healthy economic development landscape, with renewable energy, manufacturing and tech sectors all represented in the past year’s biggest deals. 

Virginia snags “Best Business Climate” state ranking

Virginia is the state with the “Best Business Climate” in the nation, according to Business Facilities magazine’s 17th annual State Ranking Report, released Wednesday.

Last year, Texas held the No. 1 spot, with Virginia taking second. After falling off Business Facilities’ top 10 list in 2014 and 2015, Virginia placed ninth in 2016, fourth in 2017, fifth in 2018 and then rose to No.2 in 2019, losing out to Tennessee.

Virginia also topped Business Facilities’ Tech Talent Pipeline rankings, a new category this year, and took first place in the Cybersecurity category again. Virginia ranked within the top 10 states in the Customized Training, Offshore Wind Power, Most Educated and Highest Average Income categories.

Barry DuVal, president and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement, “Virginia’s recognition as Business Facilities’ Best Business Climate is a testament to our world-class talent initiatives and strong economy. Virginia has advanced strategies to support our tech ecosystem and foster a strong tech talent pipeline.”

“Virginia is injecting more than $2 billion into a Tech Talent Investment Program that cumulatively represents the largest state commitment to computer science education,” the report stated, praising the state program that is incentivizing 11 universities to create 31,000 new computer science/engineering graduates during the next 20 years.

The report also cited:

  • Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus under development in Alexandria;
  • George Mason University’s $250 million investment to double the number of computer science majors and to build a new headquarters for Mason’s Institute for Digital InnovAtion;
  • and the University of Virginia’s establishment of a $120 million School of Data Science, which will train students in data analysis, machine learning, statistics, computer science and communication.

Arlington was the top-ranked mid-sized metro locality for Best Business Climate and Alexandria was the top-ranked small metro (population under 200,000) locality for Best Business Climate. Amazon.com Inc.’s HQ2 headquarters was the primary reason, according to the report, plus the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus.

 

Virginia ranked CNBC’s Top State for Business again

Virginia retained its place as CNBC’s Top State for Business this year, beating out North Carolina and Texas and becoming the first state to achieve the honor twice in a row and five times in all, the cable business news channel  announced Tuesday morning.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam appeared live Tuesday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” sitting in front of the Norfolk harbor, where ships blasted their horns and sprayed water in celebration following the announcement that Virginia had again ranked No. 1 in CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business competition. Virginia also took the top spot in CNBC’s annual state rankings in 2019, 2011, 2009 and 2007. CNBC did not rank the states in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When you do the right thing for people, it’s not only the right thing, but it’s good for business,” Northam said, alluding to the measures the state has taken toward supporting diversity, equity and inclusion efforts over the last two years. In July 2019, when Virginia last topped CNBC’s Top States for Business, Northam was still in hot water over the revelation of a blackface photo on his pages from his medical school yearbook. He has focused the remainder of his term on increasing diversity, equity and inclusion — legalizing marijuana, increasing the state’s minimum wage, abolishing the death penalty and overhauling the state’s procurement process to make sure woman- and minority-owned businesses receive equal opportunities to bid and win state contracts.

Two years ago, Virginia’s 2019 win was a bright point, coming after the state had fallen to 13th place in 2016. Northern Virginia economic development officials and Gov. Ralph Northam were taking a victory lap after landing Amazon.com Inc.’s East Coast HQ2 in Arlington in late 2018, a $2.5 billion project that is expected to bring 25,000 jobs. This time, the reasons behind the ranking are more nuanced. CNBC weighted its decisions toward the cost of doing business, also taking inclusiveness and public health measures into consideration, acknowledging the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020’s nationwide racial justice-focused protests.

Virginia also is emerging from the pandemic, with more than 70% of its residents having been at least partially vaccinated against COVID. Northam discussed recovery efforts with CNBC and also mentioned his “Get Skilled, Get a Job, Give Back” program, one of his signature initiatives. Known as G3, the program provides tuition funding for eligible low- and middle-income students who are pursuing degrees in high-demand fields, including health care,  technology and manufacturing.

In an interview with CNBC about this year’s win, Virginia Port Authority CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards said, “We’ve seen a remarkable V-shaped recovery from COVID. May 2021 was an all-time record for the port, 56% bigger than we were last year, and significantly above 2019.”

“Today’s ranking reaffirms what we already knew — Virginia is the best state for business,” Virginia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Barry DuVal said in a statement. “The ranking reflects our longstanding investments in workforce training and our robust education system, while also recognizing the increasingly inclusive nature of the commonwealth. This ranking validates our approach to maintain Virginia’s standing as the top state for business through long-term planning efforts and targeted policy recommendations as part of Blueprint Virginia.”

Virginia outranked North Carolina, which came in second place, marking that state’s best finish since CNBC began the comparative study of the states in 2007. Maryland ranks at 12th, the most-improved state, moving up from its 2019 ranking of No. 31.

“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,” Northam said in a statement Tuesday. “I am proud of what this coveted recognition says about the policies we have put in place and how they are driving growth and innovation across our commonwealth. Our success is a blueprint for creating a vibrant economic climate in the post-pandemic world — and proves that when you lift everyone up, when you treat people right, and when you celebrate diversity, it’s also good for business.”

CNBC based this year’s rankings on 85 metrics — up from 64 metrics in 2019 — across 10 categories, including workforce, education, life, health and inclusion, access to capital, cost of doing business and cost of living. This year, cost of doing business was the most heavily weighted category, which had previously been taken by workforce. The top category is determined by states’ economic development marketing.

Virginia topped the education category, based on multiple measures of K-12 education including test scores, class size and spending, as well as the number of higher education institutions in each state. Virginia also did well in workforce, coming in third. The workforce category considers factors such as the availability of workers, the concentration of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workers, union membership and right to work laws and the diversity of each state’s workforce.

The commonwealth ranked 11th in the life, health and inclusion category, which CNBC previously called quality of life. The change reflects the addition of inclusiveness and public health measures, such as voting rights and COVID-19 vaccination rates.

Northam told CNBC, “We’ve had a number of elections here in Virginia. They’ve been safe. We’ve had accurate results. … We want to make it less cumbersome to vote.”

Northam also addressed the public health metrics. “Initially, it was tough to get PPE and then testing supplies. We’ve had a very successful vaccine rollout in Virginia. Over 73% of Virginians have now had their first shot or two,” he said.

Virginia scored 1,587 out of 2,500 points.

Runners up included:

2. North Carolina was helped by Apple locating its first East Coast campus outside Raleigh, but hurt by the lack of statewide public accommodation law to protect nondisabled residents against discrimination, CNBC wrote.

3. Utah ranked high for its overall economy but didn’t perform as well in the categories of life, health and inclusion; education; and cost of living.

4. Texas was hurt by policies that counted against inclusiveness metrics and an underfunded public health system, plus the highest rate of uninsured and a low COVID-19 vaccination rate, as well as electric grid stability issues, as evidenced by the state’s February 2021 power crisis that saw 4.5 million homes left without power amid severe winter storms. Until this year, Texas was tied with Virginia as the overall winner of America’s Top States for Business, with four previous wins.

5. Tennessee appeared in the top five for the first time, thanks to its second-best economy and eighth-lowest cost of doing business, the most heavily weighted category, according to CNBC.