bizjournals: Where the best markets are to grow a small business — bizjournals.com

Four of America's five best markets for small businesses are in ledby No. 1 Orlando, according to a new Bizjournalds study. "Construction has scaledf back, but we're still seeing substantial growth in saysMark Vitner, senior economisyt for Wachovia Corp. "The numbers for new-business formatiom are strong in virtually everymajor market. Florida remains a very good place todo Florida's top-rated markets are scattered throughout the state. Orlandop is the economic hub ofcentrap Florida, No. 2 Sarasota-Bradenton overlooks the Gulf of Mexico, No. 3 Miami-Forft Lauderdale is a gateway tothe Caribbean, and No. 5 Jacksonvilld hugs the Atlantic coast 350 miles nortuof Miami.
These four markets, despite their diverse locations, share several attributes. Each has experiencecd rapid growth since 2000 in employment and the number ofsmalol businesses. Bizjournals used a 12-part formulqa to rate small-business vitality in the nation'ds 75 largest metropolitan areas. (Clici here for the , and click here for the .) The 75 taken as a group, had 179 millionh residents asof mid-2005, accounting for 60 percent of the nation'a total population. They also includedd 4.5 million small businesses, a number that rose by 7 percenty between 2000and 2005.
The study's objective was to identifuy those metros that are most conducive to the creation and developmenty ofsmall businesses. The highest scores went to areas that haveprosperous economies, are expanding rapidly, and are densely packerd with small businesses. (Bizjournals definess a small business asany private-sectofr employer with 99 or fewer Orlando's broad record of economicv strength vaults it to the top of the standings. It'sz the only market to rank amongt the 10 national leaders forpopulatiojn growth, small-business creation, and small-business concentration.
The latter categorhy compares each market's number of small businesses withits Orlando's ratio of 2,821 small businesses per 100,00 0 residents is 16 percent better than the study group'xs average of 2,439 per 100,000. "Orlando is goinv full speed ahead," says Vitner. "Most peopld think of it as Disnet World andMickey Mouse, but it'as much more than tourism. It has a tremendouslyg diverse base ofindustries — high-tech, softwarre development, defense, benefits administration, video-game manufacturing.
" Four metros, including two in have more than 3,000 small businesses per 100,000 Miami-Fort Lauderdale's ratio of 3,161 is the nation's highesy concentration, followed by Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn. (3,094), Sarasota-Bradenton and Denver (3,043). (Clicjk for the leaders in certain categories includedr inthe rankings.) The highest-ratede market outside of Floridz in the overall standingx is Las Vegas, which ranks fourtbh on Bizjournals' list. Las Vegas is the national leadefr inpopulation growth, adding 335,000 people betwee 2000 and 2005, an increase of 24.
3 Sixth through 10th on the list of America's best market s for small businesses are Raleigh, Washington, Salt Lake Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Minneapolis-St. Paul. (Click for profilea of the 10 leaders.) The high rankings earnedr by Las Vegas and Salt Lake City are proovf that the Intermountain West has becomre a growth center for small A third market inthe region, Denver, holdsw 11th place. "Residents of the Rocky Mountain statesd have typically had a more entrepreneurial mindset than found in the East and the saysJeff Thredgold, president of Thredgold Economic Associates in Utah.
"Tax rates are typicalluy lower in themountainj states, while the regulator y burden involved in creating a business is much less painful than foundf in the Northeast." Mass., sits at the bottokm of the standings, which means that it's America's weakesgt major market for small-business vitality, accordingt to the study. Springfield has only 2,213 small businesses per 100,000 a concentration that is 22 percent smalledthan Orlando's. The number of small businesses in the Springfielsd area hasdeclined 8.4 percent in five And local population has been virtually flat sincr the beginning of the decade.
Also mired in the bottom five areEl Paso, Texas; Dayton, New Orleans and Memphis. (Click for profiles of the bottoj10 markets.) This is the thir d time that Bizjournals has rated the vitality of small-businese sectors. Miami-Fort Lauderdale was No. 1 in the previous which were releasedin . Memphis finishede last on that list, which was confined to the nation's 50 largesg markets. Portland, Maine, was the leade in Bizjournals' original standings in , while San Jose occupiex last place. Those rankings encompassed the 91 marketz that had atleast 500,000 residents at the time.

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