Sacramento Ranked 19th on Inc. Magazine’s ‘Best Cities for Doing Business’ List

Sacramento, Calif., May 4, 2006 – The Sacramento Area Commerce and Trade Organization (SACTO) is pleased to announce that Inc. Magazine ranked the Sacramento Region 19th of 66 cities on its annual ‘Best Cities for Doing Business’ list.

The Sacramento area was one of only four California regions included in the top 20.  San Bernardino-Riverside and Santa-Ana-Anaheim-Irvine were ranked above Sacramento claiming spots five and 17, respectively, with San Diego ranked 20th.

The magazine’s editors studied 393 population centers across the country, examining factors such as job creation and entrepreneurial spirit. The survey identifies a significant trend it calls the “revenge of the boondocks”, or the growing migration from urban centers to smaller cities once considered peripheral.

Rankings are broken down by large, medium and small cities with the Sacramento area falling into the large city category.  “Large” areas include those with a nonfarm employment base of at least 450,000 jobs.  The Sacramento area’s ranking is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics data for the Sacramento, Arden, Arcade and Roseville metropolitan statistical area (MSA).  The index is calculated utilizing the following four key criteria:  1) recent growth trend: the current and prior year’s employment growth rates, with the current year emphasized; 2) mid-term growth: the average annual 2000-2005 growth rate; 3) long-term trend: the sum of the 2000-2005 and 1994-1999 employment growth rates multiplied by the ratio of the 1994-1999 growth rate over the 2000-2005 growth rate; and 4) current year growth.

“This is one of a number of notable rankings the Sacramento Region has received in recent years that further validates the Region’s status on the national stage,” said Gary Orr, SACTO’s 2005-2006 Board Chair.

To review the complete list, visit www.inc.com/magazine/20060501/boomtowns-large.html.