Forbes has released its 13th annual list of the Best Places for Business and Careers. Topping the list of 200 U.S. cities this year is Raleigh, North Carolina. In ranking the 200 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., Forbes looked at “12 metrics relating to job growth (past and projected), costs (business and living), income growth, educational attainment and projected economic growth. We also factor in quality of life issues like crime rates, cultural and recreational opportunities and net migration patterns. Lastly we included the number of highly ranked colleges in an area per our annual college rankings.”
So, where does Reno, Nevada come in on the list? Reno is ranked 142 overall. Reno’s strongest suit is its “Cost of Business” factor – coming in at 42 out of 200. However, Reno’s “Job Growth” and “Education” rankings did not fare as well – coming in at 192 and 120, respectively.
See the Forbes’ piece The Best Places For Business
See the ranking of all 200 MSAs
See the methodology used
Woodrow Stool
“Job Growth” and “Education” – strange how those two seem to go together.
Cheer up kids – at least we beat Flint Michigan.
Sully
Woodrow, I won’t argue with your comment, however job growth should be put in it’s proper perspective. The clue is “growth.” This area has geographical constraints, whereas it cannot grow as far as the eye can see. Water is a precious commodity and current sources can only handle about 600,000 people, so this area will never become a Silicon Valley or Dallas, Tx. Taking that into consideration this area didn’t place all that bad.
nevadaisdead
This is what the state’s stupid, dropout, meth-using, missing teeth population gets – no reason for business to come here and the unemployment that goes with it. It’s also the reason why the greater Reno area will remain be the last to recover, if it ever recovers. Face it, there’s no reason for any buisness to set-up shop here . . . as long as the population remains in it’s current state and the educational system remains a backwater slough.
bob_c
The location and climate in Reno is excellent…..gambling should be banned and let the chips fall where they may.
Walter
“gambling should be banned”…… in Reno, Nevada.
bob_c has said many hilarious things on this blog, but this one wins the prize.
Most of the long time posters don’t post much anymore, if at all. All that is left is the goofy fringe.
What was the median for June? Does anybody care anymore?
bob_c
Because the long time posters are superior and have keen senses of humor.
MikeZ
RE: Woodrow
I think some people posting here are personally vested in the area’s education business and they’re understandably upset at the recent cuts but the whole “if you build education, jobs will come” economic theory is widely discredited by literally hundreds of areas that tried that, and failed.
We can’t afford to be dumb with the money we have at a time like this. Education in Reno and Nevada certainly needs to be improved, but that will have to wait until the money for improvement is there.
rory
Nevadaisdead: So can I ask you, why are you here? Please move. Your negative energy is f888ing with my groove.
tallguy
To MikeZ:
In the spirit of the data driven RRB, can you back up with data some examples of the “hundreds” of areas that have tried the education appraoch and failed with it as an economic driver?
Stuart
To MikeZ;
I’d be satisfied with a reference to just a couple of dozen areas that increased spending for their higher educational system and experienced that it did not result in any enhanced job creation. Really, MikeZ, I don’t need reference to the hundreds. How about a couple dozen? How about listing them 1-24 with a description of the educational institution and then with the data you rely upon to suport the conclusion that the effort “failed.”
Step right up, MikeZ.
Steve Herschbach
http://renomemo.rgj.com/study-reno-sparks-wont-see-jobs-recovery-until-after-2021/
Woodrow Stool
I don’t know if you invest in education that “they will come”.
What I do know is if you don’t, they most certainly will not.
What is your degree in MikeZ, and what did it do for you?
MikeZ
Top 10 in per-student education spending:
District of Columbia $13,187
New York $11,546
New Jersey $11,436
Connecticut $10,001
Massachusetts $9,856
Vermont $9,678
Alaska $9,586
Delaware $9,271
Rhode Island $9,178
Pennsylvania $8,841
Top 10 in employment (lowest rate):
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Hampshire
South Dakota
Oklahoma
Vermont
Hawaii
Iowa
Virgina
Wyoming
Still skeptical?
Again, this is not the time to be stupid with money.
Anonymous Coward
Re: MikeZ’s list of the top 10 in per-student education spending.
In terms of median household income, these states ranked #2, #3, #4, #6, #8, #10, #15, #16, #20, and #22 (2009 statistics, via http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States). Not a perfect sweep, but I’d wager that’s a lot better than the bottom 10 in per-student education spending.
I’m not claiming that this proves spending more on education will always result in an improved economy; I’m not even making claims about which way the causality is going in this data. I’m just saying that this is a more complicated matter than can be deduced by comparing a couple of top-10 lists.
Woodrow Stool
MikeZ, let me ask you one more time for the record here on RRB:
– Do you hold any type of college degree, and if so what degree in what area of study?
– What do you do for a living?
Zen
I’m not one to usually try and simplify a problem, but in my mind, the problem in Nevada comes down to one main thing and that is image. It’s image is one of a 24 hour party place with lots of gambling, booze, tattoo parlors, pole dancers, prostitutes, and all the other goodies that come with these things. Hey, we spent decades building this image, so now we get to live with it. If you wan’t to promote Nevada as a great place live, family friendly with outstanding education and all the correct social amenities to attract top notch companies with high paying jobs, it’s going to take some doing, and you are going to have to loose some of the things that made us what we are today. Perception is reality and the perception outside of Nevada is that this state is not where you wan’t to take your business, much less your family. If however, you are young, not looking to get and education, and want a 24 hour party town, this is your place. Ever wonder why we have a fairly low percentage of high school and college graduates, it’s because traditionally you didn’t need the education to get a fairly decent paying job here. Don’t get me wrong, I love this state, but I’m just calling it like I see it. We made our bed, now we’re going to lie in it for a while. I do believe we can change, but not over night.
tallguy
Forbes, a magazine pretty closely tied to business and economic growth, certainly seemed to think eduction was related to business growth. Must be their vested interest in the education business I guess. They probably hold lots of shares in elementary schools, high schools, and public universities. Or maybe they just send their kids to school, and hope their kids don’t have to work in a sweatshop when they grow up. I guess them probably having kids biases them too much, we can’t rely on anything they write.
MikeZ
Forbes, a magazine pretty closely tied to business and economic growth, certainly seemed to think eduction was related to business growth.
Tied to, related to, sure, and I agree, but the claim being made here is that education is a causal factor.
Wet sidewalks coincide with rain; wetting your sidewalk will not cause it to rain.
Sully
It’s interesting if you sort the list by category. The top ten in job growth all fare poorly in education, except #3 Austin. Eight of the ten fare worst than Reno.
The top ten in education 7 are mediocre in job growth and terrible for cost of doing business, except #10 Raleigh.
The lowest cost of doing business ten are mediocre to terrible in job growth, terrible in education (except #9 Lincoln) and six rate lower than Reno in education.
bob_c
South reno is the first leg in detaching from casino life.
Comebackkid
Mr Stool,
Does MikeZ really need to tell you his educational background to post his views here? If everyone needs a degree there might not be anyone left to post…..
Woodrow Stool
MikeZ can post any opinions he likes, degree or not.
My interest in his background is his continued opinion that higher education does not create a positive employment environment and is a luxury that can be put on hold until things turn around. Fair enough.
My question to MikeZ or anyone who holds those views is twofold:
– Did you go to school and get a degree?
– What kind of business are you in?
Seems simple enough to me, but Mr. Z does not want to answer. That is also fair enough. Perhaps he is busy with his tea bag at the moment.
Comebackkid
Stool,
So then help me out. I have essentially the same view – higher education alone doesn’t create a positive employment environment, especially when you’re geographically sequestered like Reno. Degree: Aerospace Engineering, Business: For 25years I’ve owned my own company.
So what does that prove exactly?
Sully
Stool,
I agree with Comebackkid and wonder why should taxpayers be forced to continue unaffordable deficit spending to send more kids to college when the evidence shows that our economy is not offering enough jobs for college graduates now?
Degree – none, Business – owned my own construction firm for 25 years.
Now it’s your turn! 🙂
Gadflly
I hate defending MikeZ, but I feel compelled to point out Mr. Stool’s use of informal logical fallacies. First, Mr. Stool’s concern about MikeZ’s educational background was first cast as an ad hominem attack (a position he has bought back somewhat but not completely), and when pressed on the ad hominem attack, Mr. Stool created a straw man argument.
MikeZ did not claim the absolute that “higher education does not create a positive employment environment.” His claim seems to be that in general job growth is not necessarily tied to higher education, and specifically that job growth does not follow necessarily from improving higher education. Stating MikeZ’s position as an absolute and changing job growth to “a positive employment environment” recasts the argument in such a way as to make it seem absurd.
While I am the first to agree that MikeZ makes bold claims that he cannot support with non-orthogonal data, I have to agree in principle with MikeZ, Sully, Comebackkid, et al. Not only is the present economy not offering “enough jobs for college graduates now,” recent college graduates are disproportionately represented among the unemployed and seem to be have the strongest belief that they are entitled to a job in their chosen fields.
For the record, my career is in higher education and continuing adult education for professionals. I hold a couple of BAs, an MA, and a JD (although I am not a practicing blood sucker, er, lawyer). I believe strongly in higher education, but only for the right reasons and for the right people. Higher education is NOT for everyone (a sentiment that is contrary to 20 years worth of educator spin-jive), nor is it a panacea for a failing economy.
Gadfly
Oops… an extar ‘l’ slipped into my nom de plume in the above post. I guess I need to post more often so that my browser “remembers” my name and I don’t have to (mis)type it when I post. 🙂
-Gadfly
Gadfly
And now I have a typo in my correction post. I am going to quit now.
Comebackkid
‘I believe strongly in higher education, but only for the right reasons and for the right people. Higher education is NOT for everyone (a sentiment that is contrary to 20 years worth of educator spin-jive), nor is it a panacea for a failing economy’
Well said. That distinction seems to be left out of most arguments when it comes to increasing school quality. Educating a craftsman or tradesman to be better businessman could possibly do more for this area than spending more on higher education when it’s plain many those are leaving the area. I’m speaking from a perspective of getting the best bang for the educational buck.
I would also add the need for constant and continued education. As I attended my oldest sons graduation from Weber St, the guest speaker, a futurist, spoke about how half of everything these students just learned was already obsolete. You could have dropped a pin in that place.
MikeZ
MikeZ did not claim the absolute that “higher education does not create a positive employment environment.” His claim seems to be that in general job growth is not necessarily tied to higher education, and specifically that job growth does not follow necessarily from improving higher education. Stating MikeZ’s position as an absolute and changing job growth to “a positive employment environment” recasts the argument in such a way as to make it seem absurd.
Thank you.
tallguy
Why education? Look at the straight up economics of investing in your own and your community’s education. On average, you should expect more (and by extension, your greater community should expect more as well) the more (and better) education that you have.
http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/college-is-still-worth-it/
Gadfly
Tallguy,
Do not take this the wrong way, but that article is a non sequitur to the discussion at hand. The discussion is whether public “investment” in higher education results in job growth. The article to which you linked is silent on that point, as it is silent to your parenthetical comment that “by extension, your greater community should expect more as well… .” The article specifically addresses the benefits to the individual.
On the level of the individual, I will never dispute that increasing education increases opportunity; however, it does not guarantee anything, and it does not as significantly help those who do not have the drive and ability to help themselves. The author’s closing thought, “[t]he bottom line is that college can be very expensive, and certainly doesn’t guarantee a high-paying job and a cushy lifestyle, but at the very least it almost guarantees a higher-paying job and a cushier lifestyle than what you’d get without it,” is over-simplistic at best.
Sully
tallguy, you and stool seem bent on twisting the topic around to your point of view. Nothing is guaranteed. If it weren’t for education we would still be riding horses and reading by candlelight. If you’re in business, ongoing education is important if you expect to remain competitive, unless you’re running a hot dog stand outside the airport. But this is true whether you have a college degree or a pedigree. 🙂
There is no study that has proven that investing more public funds in education will guarantee a better economic base. Certain areas (silicon valley for example) do benefit, however not all areas get the same bang for the buck.
You both seem to interpret comments as opposed to education, which is as far from the truth as your statements are close to it.