The middle of the list found some noteworthy status changes, as well. Iowa<\/a> shot up nine spaces to No. 14, and Montana<\/a> rose six places to No. 15. Wisconsin<\/a> gained nine to reach No. 21, and Alabama<\/a> climbed eight to No. 24. In the negative column, Delaware<\/a> tumbled 10 spots to No. 25, likely owed to tax hikes and changes in litigation policies making the state less attractive for business incorporations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Arizona<\/a> sank six spots to No. 10, though its recent challenges may be due in part to its success. \u201cThe state has grown so much from a population standpoint and has had so much investment coming in over the last 10 to 15 years, they\u2019re a little bit behind now on infrastructure,\u201d says Larry Gigerich, executive managing director of the Ginovus economic development consultancy, who adds that for the first time since 2009, Arizona has a Democratic governor and a Republican legislature, raising the specter of policy gridlock. \u201cIt\u2019s a little muddy there right now. Corporate CEOs like stability and predictability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Indeed, they do. And more of them are willing to consider a move: 54 percent of respondents said they were \u201cmore open to examining new locations\u201d for their businesses, up from 49 percent last year. Forty-two percent said they were \u201cconsidering opening or expanding new operations or facilities in a new state,\u201d with 42 percent mulling a headquarters shift to a new state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The competition among states to win over these CEOs has reached unprecedented levels at a time when the world of business is undergoing seismic changes, thanks to a transformed global trade environment, shifting regulatory frameworks and massive demographic and technological shifts. With the new administration\u2019s policies poised to reshape economic priorities, states are adjusting their strategies to remain competitive, focusing on fostering innovation, attracting skilled workers and driving economic expansion. Below we unpack three drivers of the new world re-order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amid all the uncertainty at the federal level and global geopolitical instability, states are increasingly touting their relative calm. Georgia, as part of its pitch to business at home and abroad, points to the fact that, \u201cover the last 50 years, whether we\u2019ve been Democrat or Republican, we\u2019ve been pro-business. That\u2019s something that resonates in the world right now,\u201d says Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development, adding, \u201cYou don\u2019t necessarily have to be driving change to be competitive. Sometimes consistency is just as important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Part of that, of course, is leaning into lower corporate taxes and fewer regulations. Four states\u2014Louisiana<\/a>, Nebraska<\/a>, North Carolina<\/a> and Pennsylvania<\/a>\u2014reduced their corporate tax rate as of Jan. 1, 2025, according to the Tax Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Others are working on it. Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa, for example, signed five tax reform bills into law since taking office in 2018. \u201cOur corporate [tax rate] was one of the highest in the country at 12 percent,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019ve taken that down, and we\u2019re on our way to 5.5 percent.\u201d Individual income tax also came down from nearly 9 percent to a flat 3.8 percent this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reynolds plans to make Iowa a shining example of deregulation. She cut 1,200 rules in her first year, and each subsequent year, more cuts have been made. \u201cWe have a five-year rolling review so that every regulation has to be justified to remain on the books\u2014if not, it automatically sunsets,\u201d she says. It\u2019s those moves that put Reynolds at the top of the Cato Institute\u2019s 2024 Fiscal Policy Report Card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Perennial favorites like Texas<\/a>, Tennessee<\/a> and Florida<\/a> got plenty of shoutouts from CEO respondents for reducing regulation. Josip Rupena, CEO of Milo, a fintech company based in Miami, says companies in his industry have been flocking to the city, creating a burgeoning hub, partly because CEOs see deregulation creating opportunities for innovation. \u201cNot all innovation is good or lasting, but you need room for new ideas to develop,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Incentives don\u2019t hurt, either. Early on, Milo received a grant from the Miami Downtown Development Authority aimed at encouraging hiring in the local area. The state has also helped formalize partnerships between startups and state universities to create opportunities for internships and recruitment, says Rupena. Now that the area is reaching a critical mass for fintech, it\u2019s easier to recruit senior leadership to the area. \u201cThe quality of talent has increased significantly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A business-friendly climate and lower cost of operations are both key, but talent is clearly the new chief concern: In last year\u2019s poll, taxes trumped talent; this year, access to talent ranked highest with just over three out of four CEOs naming it as their top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are cost-related factors CEOs should and do contemplate, but if you don\u2019t have the workforce you need, it\u2019s more irrelevant what the rest of [the offer] is,\u201d says Mark Schweitzer, former senior leader at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and an economics professor at Case Western University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTalent is everything,\u201d says Terry Lutz, chair of McClure Co., an integrated mechanical construction, engineering, maintenance and energy services firm based in Des Moines, Iowa, who says one of his state\u2019s key strengths is talent, thanks in part to a \u201cphenomenal\u201d education system that boasts one of the country\u2019s highest percentages of high school graduates and four-year degrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Larry O\u2019Connor, the CEO of Other World Computing, also praised Iowa for its \u201cvery skilled IS and computer science workforce, along with reasonable real estate tax, income tax and cost of living.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the ongoing skills shortage, savvy states aren\u2019t taking a passive approach to workforce development. To woo more employers, they\u2019re getting involved on the ground floor. Georgia\u2019s Quick Start program, for example, is a state-run workforce training program designed to support businesses by providing customized, free job training for new and expanding companies in Georgia. Managed by the Technical College System of Georgia, Quick Start helps businesses\u2014especially in manufacturing, logistics, biotech and IT\u2014train employees efficiently and effectively. Now that graduates have solid career opportunities, they don\u2019t need to leave. \u201cFor years, we lost academic talent to the West Coast, to the Northeast,\u201d says Wilson. \u201cNow those brilliant students who are graduating from our university system are staying home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ohio<\/a> and Indiana<\/a> are another pair of states that have been leaders in workforce education and programs designed to fill critical manufacturing roles, as a generation of skilled workers retire. \u201cThey\u2019re basically saying, \u2018We\u2019re going to look at it in real time and then predict over the next five and 10 years where our biggest shortages are going to be,\u2019\u201d says Gigerich. \u201cThen they\u2019re creating credential and certification programs to create a pipeline for some of these at-risk areas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program, for another example, aims to take the headache out of hiring by offering fully customized recruitment and training \u201cto make sure these new employees are ready to go, day one,\u201d says El-Koubi. To date the program has secured more than 13,000 jobs for companies such as LEGO Group, Tyson Foods, Church & Dwight and Northrop Grumman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tech needed an individual boost, says Greg Fairchild, professor of business administration at the University of Virginia\u2019s Darden School of Business and dean and CEO of UVA, Northern Virginia. \u201cEven before Amazon came in, there was a recognition that the state of Virginia has a number of technology firms but lacked the labor pool in tech that you might find in Seattle or San Francisco or even North Carolina.\u201d In 2018, the state launched an unprecedented, statewide $1.1 billion performance-based Tech Talent Investment Program, which ultimately became the centerpiece of Virginia\u2019s successful Amazon HQ2 bid. Of the commitment to double tech talent in the state, El-Koubi says, \u201cWe\u2019re ahead of schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state\u2019s focus on higher ed has given Hanbury Design, an architecture and design firm based in Norfolk, Virginia, a competitive edge, with Virginia Tech and UVA providing a steady stream of fresh talent. \u201cWe hire them and then we grow them up,\u201d says CEO David Keith. \u201cThe combination of those two feeder schools has enabled us to really measure up to some of the national firms.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanbury\u2019s focus on developing young talent has had an additional benefit: retention. \u201cAlmost everybody stays,\u201d Keith says. \u201cIt\u2019s very seldom people want to leave once they\u2019ve had a chance to work with us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tech firms have been migrating away from traditional tech strongholds for some time, but the biggest recent driver has been the rapid rise of AI, which has required companies to seek locations that provide affordable, reliable sources of energy and a workforce skilled in AI-driven applications. One of the states doing \u201ca phenomenal job\u201d of getting ahead of the trend is North Carolina, which landed big data centers from Google, Microsoft and Apple, and in 2024 added American Tower and PowerHouse Data Centers. \u201cThey\u2019ve been leveraging that into life sciences and healthcare R&D and manufacturing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Utah\u2019s \u201cSilicon Slopes,\u201d encompassing areas around Salt Lake City and Provo, has also been seeing more tech investment: In March 2025, CIM Group and Novva Data Centers announced a new 100-acre AI data center in West Jordan, Utah, set to be one of the largest direct-to-chip cooled AI data centers globally. The area also features an Adobe Systems 164,570-square-foot campus in Lehi and DataBank\u2019s newly expanded SL6 data center in Bluffdale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With major AI-driven data centers from Big Tech\u2014including Google\u2019s 2024 investment of $1 billion to expand its facility in Council Bluffs\u2014Iowa is becoming an AI processing hub. \u201cWe were doing data centers before data centers were a thing,\u201d says Gov. Reynolds, pointing out that Iowa has one of the lowest costs of energy in the country. \u201cOne aspect that\u2019s appealing to a lot of CEOs and companies is the fact that 62 percent of Iowa\u2019s power comes from renewables. It\u2019s something that we\u2019ve been very strategic in building out, and we\u2019ve been working at it for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Louisiana is another state to watch, thanks to investment in AI and virtual reality software technology. Governor Jeff Landry has focused on actively developing the technology corridor between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, with the goal of leveraging the robust research capabilities of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge to attract young, well-educated tech talent. A significant milestone in this initiative is Meta Platforms\u2019 announcement in December 2024 that it will construct a $10 billion AI data center in Richland Parish, Louisiana, which Gov. Landry called \u201ca new chapter\u201d for the Bayou State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As states compete for emerging industries like AI and automation, the calculus for relocation goes well beyond tax incentives. For CEOs like Jenny Zhan of Beyond International, who recently moved her alternative investment management firm from Irvine, California, to Houston, Texas, that decision is less about the perks and more about longterm strategy. She cautions other CEOs to carefully consider their reasons for relocation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not an easy thing to do, so you really need to look at the complete picture and how it can improve your business,\u201d she says. \u201cFor us, talent was a big factor. Talent is always seeking opportunities for long-term growth, and Houston is providing those opportunities for young talent, so we have to go wherever the talent is.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Movement in Chief Executive\u2019s annual CEO survey of the best and worst places to do business reflects the impact of transformed global trade environment, changing regulatory frameworks and massive demographic and technological shifts taking place across the nation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31836,"featured_media":367322,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[417],"tags":[57692],"class_list":["post-367290","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-best-worst-states-for-business","tag-featured"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chiefexecutive.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Chart-Page-BW-STATES_Sp25-762x1024.jpg\")
Policy Reset: In Search of Stability<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Talent and Training Rule<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Long known for sun and sand, Miami is emerging as a leading global financial hub, with more than 60 international banks and over 500 fintech companies. AdobeStock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/chiefexecutive.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/image-gallery-high-res-manassas-virginia-1024x576.jpg\")
Virginia\u2019s skilled workforce, strategic location and pro-business climate led global semiconductor maker Micron to invest $2.17 billion to expand its manufacturing operation in the city of Manassas. Photo courtesy of Virginia Economic Dev.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAI and the High-Tech Spread<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Low taxes, deregulation and low cost of living continues to draw tech companies like Apple, which will invest $1.3 billion to build a 400,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art data center in Waukee, fueled entirely by renewable energy. Photo courtesy of Apple<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n