< Previousa recent ranking from a telecommunications data provider sheds new light on the factors that the best business locations have in common. e sixth annual ranking of the Best Small Cities for Small Business, courtesy of VerizonSpecials.com, identifi es these six factors as critical to success: • Growing population. • Highly educated workforce. • Labor-friendly commute times. • Favorable tax climate. • Easy access to capital. • Widespread broadband access. Using these as criteria, VerizonSpecials.com looked at cities below , in population and came up with the top cities for launching a small business (see p. ). Cheyenne, Wyoming, with a population of just over ,, tops the list, followed by Missoula, Montana; Ames, Iowa; Shawnee, Kansas; and Lafayette, Indiana. Rounding out the top are Ankeny, Iowa; Tamarac, Florida; Bismarck, North Dakota; Novi, Michigan; and Eagan, Minnesota. Time to ‘Cowboy Up’ in Cheyenne Wanting to know what separates Cheyenne from the pack, we reached out to Betsey Hale, CEO of Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development organization for Cheyenne and Laramie County. “We are at the intersection of Interstates and . is is an ideal location for distribution operations,” she says. “We are just miles from the Colorado border. You can get to Denver International Airport in about minutes. Our cultural values are strong, and of course you can experience all the wonders of the great outdoors here — from the Sierra Madre Mountains and Jackson Hole to Yellowstone National Park and the Rocky Mountain West.” Searing Industries, based in Rancho Cucamonga, California, moved to Cheyenne in and just completed another expansion, says Hale. “ ey are in the steel fabricating business. On June , we held a ribbon-cutting celebrating their third expansion here. is one was for , square feet.” Lee Searing, president of the fi rm, noted that “Wyoming has proven to be an exceptional locating for Searing. We look forward to our continued A rural , small-town lifestyle appeals to more and more people every day. Photo: Getty Imagesgrowth in Cheyenne and serving our clients from the Cowboy State.” Tamarac Flourishes in South Florida Lori Funderwhite, economic development manager for seventh-ranked Tamarac in Broward County, Florida, says, “We have tripled in population since the s, and we have about , small businesses. We are a business-friendly city that fosters initiatives for entrepreneurs like BOSS — Business One-Stop Shop — to help them get started and get their business off the ground. We also make heavy investments into our infrastructure. We have a Digital Information Technology Department that provides top-notch wifi access in our public parks; and we are a Platinum Permitting City.” Success stories abound in this community of , people tucked in between Coral Springs, Sunrise and Fort Lauderdale. Sonny’s Car Wash Factory employs people and will soon add Downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming, the No. 1-ranked Small City for Small Business. Photo Courtesy of Cheyenne LEADS more when its new ,-sq.-ft. warehouse opens. e world’s largest maker of conveyorized equipment for automated car washes, Sonny’s has been headquartered in Tamarac for over years. Aiming for the Top in Ames Dan Culhane, president and CEO of the Ames Chamber of Commerce in Ames, Iowa, manages economic development for this city of , people in Central Iowa. “Our central location, Iowa State University, the livability of this region, and the fact that we have , new graduates every year looking for work make this a great place for any business,” he says. “Merck recently bought a company that began in our ISU Research Park. Deals like that go a long way toward supporting and promoting our startup culture.” Culhane adds that the president of ISU “has made entrepreneurship a key focus of every college in the university. e main challenge for any new business is fi nding that early-stage capital they need to grow. A typical investment is $, to $,. We work with very young and early- stage companies here to help them fi nd that critical funding.” He notes that the fi rms choosing to locate in Ames are raising the local per capita income. “When they come to this market, they are paying their people at a wage rate that attracts people from other places,” he adds. “Economic development is about creating wealth for people. at is what we do here.” Startups Abound in Ankeny Derek Lord, economic development director for the City of Ankeny, Iowa, says that access to Interstates and in Greater Des Moines enables employers to tap into a deep talent pool. “Situated between the core of the Ames MSA and the Des Moines MSA, companies in Ankeny are able to attract and hire a very talented and available workforce.” Power Pollen is one of those fi rms. “ ey are an ag-tech company that preserves pollen,” says Lord. “ ey develop technology to preserve pollen and then deploy it into existing crops to increase yield. ey chose Ankeny because it is close to the R&D coming out of ISU. ey found that position between Ames and Des Moines as the sweet spot for growth.” Craig Tool is another local success story. “ ey like the access, visibility and workforce in the area,” notes Lord. “ ey want robust amenities that make it easy to attract talent. ey have found the perfect place to do that in Ankeny.” SITE SELECTION JULY 2023 57 Heroes of the Heartland Small Midwest counties take top spots in per-capita projects race, while Texas counties claim No. 1 and No. 2 in overall rankings. W ant to know what it takes to produce one of America’s Best Counties when it comes to economic development performance? Pat Boeshart, president and owner of LiteForm Technologies in South Sioux City, Nebraska, says it has as much to do with what government doesn’t do as what it does. “We started this business in ,” he says. “You refl ect on regulations and restrictions and on how you can do business and how you can manage employees. Business in general is challenging enough on its own. You need as much open space as possible so that you are not tripped up or always stepping on a land mine.” e leaders of Dakota County, Nebraska, make sure that LiteForm and other local businesses have plenty of room to operate, says Boeshart. “Lance Hedquist [city administrator for South Sioux City] takes the red color out of the red tape. He is remarkable as a leader in Dakota County, Nebraska, and South Sioux City. He is at least half of the reason why we are here and why we continue to expand our business here. His attitude and what he has done here in South Sioux City have been nothing short of remarkable.” Over years, LiteForm, a producer of advanced, lightweight construction materials, has expanded multiple times, the most recent one being a $ million capital investment to add space to the plant site in Dakota County in . LiteForm’s investment was one of six corporate facility projects in a county of just , people, and it was enough to earn Dakota County the No. spot in the nation in Site Selection’s fi rst-ever per capita ranking of America’s Best Counties. “ e whole Siouxland area has been incredible,” says Boeshart. “Siouxland Chamber President Chris McGowan and all the chamber people have helped make our success possible.” e success of Menard’s stores made an expansion at LiteForm necessary, says Boeshart. “We got the attention of by RON STARNER & ADAM BRUNS ron.starner@siteselection.com adam.bruns@siteselection.com AMERICA’S BEST COUNTIES Home to perennially top-ranked micropolitan area Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio, is the No. 1 county in corporate facility investments per capita. Photo courtesy of Findlay-Hancock Economic Development58 JULY 2023 SITE SELECTION Menard’s. It is like a smaller Home Depot or Lowe’s. They have about 400 stores. They looked at one of our forms and liked what they saw. We did not have enough room to make what they wanted. A new addition was imperative. That prompted two additions of 24,000 total square feet. With the new business, we could not have met Menard’s demand for products without growing our own business. As with all retailers, if you do not act as quickly as we did, you lose them.” Boeshart says there is a lot to like about doing business in Dakota County and the greater tri-state Siouxland region. He lists his favorite area attributes as follows: • Quality of life. • A local workforce of good people and reliable workers. • Attention to safety. “We are safe from crime in our community.” • “It is easy to get around. There are no rush hours.” • “You can reach the whole United States from this location. There are good connections to Interstate highways.” • Access to class I rail service. “We are 90 miles away from a great container hub in Omaha-Council Bluffs, and we deliver a lot by container. Two giant rail yards are there. One is Union Pacific and the other is BNSF. UP is in Omaha and BNSF is in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We bring in hundreds of containers of materials.” The tri-state Siouxland region of Greater Sioux City, Iowa, regularly punches above its weight class in economic development, as evidenced by the Sioux City metro area claiming the No. 1 spot in Site Selection’s annual Tier 3 Top Metros category a record 12 years in a row. In this year’s America’s Best Counties Per Capita ranking, Union County, South Dakota, checks in at No. 2, garnering five qualifying projects in a county of just 17,000 residents. Union, like Dakota County, Nebraska, is a big reason why greater Sioux City claims the top place each year in the metro ranking. Andrew Nilges, economic development director for the City of North Sioux City, says the success of his town is remarkable given that it has only 3,000 people. “It boils down to the fact that we have really good people in this area,” he says, noting that city and county officials listen to local businesses and respond to their needs. “As a small community, we can facilitate and move business forward more quickly. For example, the local plant managers have my phone number. They can call or text me anytime. As a small community, we can be nimble.” Back over in South Sioux City, LiteForm’s Pat Boeshart says he likes operating out of a north central U.S. hub, and not just because customers in the Midwest and northern half of the nation tend to relate well to insulation products. “We do not see the highest of the highs or the lowest of the lows,” he says That steadiness — as well as the feeling of being built for the long haul — is a common refrain heard from corporate executives and economic development leaders in the American Heartland. It is no wonder, then, that the top 20 counties in the U.S. in project performance per capita include two in Ohio, four in Kentucky, two in Indiana, three in Louisiana, three in Georgia, and two in Greater Siouxland. A Superhero Named Hancock The winning jurisdiction this year is Hancock County in northwest Ohio. It landed 32 corporate facility projects between January 2022 and March 2023. The county has 75,000 people and is no stranger to first-place finishes. Its county seat, Findlay, has been ranked as the No. 1 Micropolitan Area in the country by Site Selection for the last decade-plus. The biggest of those 32 deals was a $100 million capital investment announced by Ball Metal Beverage Container Corp. in Findlay. Hancock County also landed a $34 million project by Flour Power Bakery Café in McComb, where the firm will build a breakfast cereal manufacturing line. Dan Sheaffer, director of Findlay-Hancock Economic Development, says that a key driver of economic growth has been AMERICA’S BEST COUNTIES BY TOTAL PROJECTS: THE TOP 20 (JAN. 2022 – MARCH 2023) RANK JURISDICTION NO. OF PROJECTS 1 Dallas County, Texas 252 T2 Harris County, Texas 231 T2 Cook County, Illinois 231 4 New York County, New York 162 5 Los Angeles County, California 128 6 Tarrant County, Texas 109 7 Travis County, Texas 103 8 Maricopa County, Arizona 102 9 DuPage County, Illinois 91 10 Middlesex County, Massachusetts 80 T11 Fulton County, Georgia 71 T11 Franklin County, Ohio 71 13 Collin County, Texas 55 T14 Kane County, Illinois 52 T14 Cuyahoga County, Ohio 52 T16 Will County, Illinois 48 T16 Hamilton County, Ohio 48 T18 Marion County, Indiana 47 T18 Miami-Dade County, Florida 47 T20 Johnson County, Kansas 46 T20 Bexar County, Texas 46 Source: Conway Projects Database, Conway Data Inc./Site Selection60 JULY 2023 SITE SELECTION “continuity of communication with the Hancock County Board of Commissioners, the Findlay city manager, and the Findlay City Council.” Even changing election results have not interrupted this continuity, says Sheaff er. “Development policies evolved over the past years have been generally led by the business community represented by Findlay-Hancock Economic Development, a private organization,” says Sheaff er. “Sweeping changes are not the norm, and steady policies have resulted in Enterprise Zones, a robust regional planning commission, a citywide Community Reinvestment Area and a Design Review District, to name a few. Such policies both incentivize and protect investment. e old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fi x it’ could not ring truer and has resulted in stability of policy over multiple administrations.” Shelby County, Ohio, with a population of , , also made the top list this year. Its principal city of Sidney is about an hour’s drive south down Interstate from Findlay. When we asked Sheaff er why so many small Ohio counties outperform the rest of the country, he said that “counties in Ohio not linked to large metropolitan statistical areas tend to be lean, agile and do more with less in terms of resources. Findlay-Hancock County has demonstrated the ability to not only play in the economic development arena with its larger metro neighbors but does so competitively. Retention of legacy companies is paramount and smaller counties can do a better job working purposefully with the leadership of those companies.” Expert: ‘Build from Within’ Lorie Vincent, president of economic development consultancy Acceleration by design and founder of Stand Up, Rural America, is one of the country’s biggest advocates for economic development in small towns and counties. “When you are a small town or a rural community, it is all about reframing your outlook,” she says. “You have to quit waiting for the white knight to come in and save you.” Counties like Hancock, Union and Dakota succeed despite their size because they stand up for themselves and outhustle everyone else, says Vincent. “ e pandemic shined a spotlight on the advantages of small counties. People today are choosing to locate in small-town, rural America like never before. People and companies are more mobile than they have ever been. People want to have a garden and a place for their kids to play outside. Smaller communities in the rural heartland of America give them the opportunity to do just that.” Top Finishes by Texas Counties Refl ect Blend of Population and Innovation Gains With two of the top three spots and four of the top , Texas is best in show when it comes to America’s Best Counties as measured by cumulative corporate facility projects overall since January . It will surprise few that Texas counties led the nation in population growth by percentage between and , taking up half of the top spots, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. e Census data also show e old adage of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fi x it’ could not ring truer ....” — Dan Sheaff er , Director, Findlay-Hancock Economic Development e old adage of ‘if it AMERICA’S BEST COUNTIES BY PROJECTS PER CAPITA: THE TOP 20 (JAN. 2022 – MARCH 2023, MIN. 10,000 POP.) RANK JURISDICTION NO. OF PROJECTS POPULATION 1 Hancock County, Ohio 32 74,861 2 Union County, South Dakota 5 17,063 3 Dakota County, Nebraska 6 21,042 4 Thomas County, Georgia 12 45,561 5 Todd County, Kentucky 3 12,404 6 McPherson County, Kansas 7 30,012 7 Union County, Kentucky 3 12,961 8 Shelby County, Ohio 11 47,671 9 Bryan County, Georgia 11 48,825 10 Concordia Parish, Louisiana 4 18,116 11 Chowan County, North Carolina 3 13,940 12 West Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana 6 28,034 13 DeKalb County, Indiana 9 43,731 14 Shelby County, Kentucky 10 48,886 15 Steuben County, Indiana 7 34,725 16 Jeff Davis County, Georgia 3 14,889 17 Simpson County, Kentucky 4 19,949 18 Floyd County, Iowa 3 15,337 19 West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana 3 15,381 20 Aitkin, Minnesota 3 16,126 Source: Conway Projects Database, Conway Data Inc./Site Selection62 JULY 2023 SITE SELECTION that our No. 8 overall county — Maricopa County, Arizona — for the second year in a row was the largest-gaining county in the nation, adding 56,831 residents in 2022, a gain of 1.3% since 2021. Harris County, Texas, tied with Cook County, Illinois, for No. 2 in our ranking, had the second-largest numerical gain last year, up 45,626. Texas was home to six of the top 10 largest-gaining counties by number of residents in 2022 — Harris, Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, Bexar and Montgomery Counties gained a combined 209,182 residents. Dallas County, our No. 1 county with 252 projects since January 2022, stands out demographically for its post-pandemic resilience: The eighth most populous county in the U.S. in 2022, Dallas County lost over 22,000 (-0.8%) people between 2020 and 2021, says the Census Bureau, but between 2021 and 2022 gained nearly 13,000 (0.5%) people — the fastest gains the county has seen since 2017. No. 4 county New York County has seen a similar snap-back, with a slight net domestic in-migration of 2,908 from 2021 to 2022 following domestic outmigration of -98,566 the prior year. Undergirding these top counties’ performance in people and project attraction, Associated General Contractors of America reported this spring that Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, added the most construction jobs (12,400 jobs or 8%) between April 2022 and April 2023, followed by Phoenix- Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona (8,200 jobs, 5%) and New York City (7,300 jobs, 5%). As a region — including No. 6 Tarrant County — North Texas only figures to continue attracting people and projects. It’s one reason behind the formation of the North Texas Innovation Alliance (NTXIA), a consortium of municipalities, government agencies, corporations and academic institutions across North Texas with a mission to “build the most connected, smart and resilient region in the country.” After all, counties don’t exist in a vacuum: Around 35% of north Texas residents cross at least one county line every day. The organization says it is taking a key role in the region’s preparation to host FIFA World Cup 26, “leading the charge in exploring the potential deployment of the most advanced smart city/ IoT technology to enhance operations, safety and experiences for residents and visitors coming into the region.” “It’s been incredible to see the economic development projects arise in Dallas and North Texas. Over the past few years, it has been an honor for NTXIA to play a key role in acting as the connector for various counties and municipalities across the North Texas region,” says NTXIA Co-Founder and Executive Director Jennifer Sanders. She says innovation is one calling card for the region that can accentuate the advantages its assets already confer (central location, good tax climate, the presence of the International Inland Port of Dallas, etc.). She also notes the county’s priority areas such as renewed investment in the southeast part of the county that has traditionally been a low-income, overlooked area for investment, and cross-jurisdictional collaboration in broadband planning and deployment. Among the projects she highlights In 2021, a landmark Dallas tower was redeveloped to house biotech firms and nonprofit organizations through the vision of private, philanthropic and public investments, supported by City of Dallas and Dallas County investments. Recognized for its use in movies and for previously housing Exxon Mobil, the tower and the surrounding 23-acre complex were redeveloped into a mixed-use office campus called Pegasus Park that opened in 2021. Today, Pegasus Park is in full use and has continued to attract non-profits, biotech companies and startups, Sanders notes, as the region now ranks No. 7 in the U.S. for science and biotech jobs and No. 4 for the most computer, mathematical and engineering jobs. “This groundbreaking project is just one example of how Dallas County implements economic development projects that benefit its citizens for the long term,” Sanders says. Looking Back, Looking Forward Asked for comment on this inaugural America’s Best Counties ranking, Kevin Shrawder, senior analysis, economics & government studies at the The Innovation District in the West End is one community investment making Dallas County attractive for corporate growth, says Jennifer Sanders, co-founder and executive director of the North Texas Innovation Alliance. Photos courtesy of NTXIANext >