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A recent story in Forbes magazine on the best places for business and careers nationwide could be a jolt for economic development officials across Florida.
The gist: No Sunshine State city even made the magazine's top 100. The Forbes survey of 200 cities looked at factors like the cost of doing business; job growth; education; and population.
While the news for the state was bad, some nuggets for the Gulf Coast were even worse.
For example, the North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton region, which ranked 162nd overall, was 199 out of 200 cities in job growth, with a rate of 0.7% in 2011. Not far behind that region in job growth was Naples-Marco Island, at 197, and Cape Coral-Fort Myers, at 195. The only city with a worse score on job growth was Reno, Nev., at -0.2%.
Other issues for Gulf Coast locales were scattered over the report. For instance, the Naples-Marco Island score was damaged by a cost of living that was 21.3% above the national average, the magazine reports.
The top 10 cities on the list are far from Florida. That list includes Provo and Ogden, Utah; Des Moines, Iowa; Dallas; and Denver.
The entire top 10, and the Gulf Coast cities on the list:
1. Provo, Utah
2. Raleigh, N.C.
3. Fort Collins, Colo.
4. Des Moines, Iowa
5. Denver
6. Ogden, Utah
7. Lincoln, Neb.
8. Dallas
9. Austin
10. Nashville
111. Tampa-St. Petersburg
133. Cape Coral-Fort Myers
149. Naples-Marco Island
162. North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton
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