Summer 2009

QUIZ:

Name the five U.S. states that lost the most manufacturing jobs from July 2008 to July 2009. 

(Scroll down for answer)

South's Sweeps Top 10 in CNBC's Cost of Living Index

CNBC's top 10 states with the lowest cost of living were all Southern states, according to the cable news channel. Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi are the 10 U.S. states with the lowest cost of living according to the CNBC study. According to the study, California, New Jersey, New York, Hawaii and Alaska had the highest cost of living.

Where are the Jobs?

Twenty-two of the nation's top 50 most populated metro areas for job postings per capita are located in the South, according to a study published this summer by indeed.com. Topping the list for job postings was Washington, D.C., which was followed in second-place by Baltimore. In another study done on job creation in the summer quarter, this one by Jay Garner and his Atlanta-based company, Garner Economics LLC, there were 13 metro markets in the South that saw year-over-year job growth of three months or more between January and June of this year (see chart). Additionally, according to the study, 37 of the South's 155 metropolitan areas and 82 of the nation's 377 metros saw at least one month of year-over-year job growth in the first six months of 2009.                                              

* January-June 2009. Source: Garner Economics

Kansas Launches Rural Broadband Initiative

The Kansas Department of Commerce has launched Connect Kansas, a new initiative designed to increase broadband Internet access throughout rural areas of the state. The initiative, which will be funded primarily by the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, comprises two key components: mapping Kansas' current broadband capacity and providing federal grants and loans to qualified organizations involved in expanding broadband to rural areas. For more information on rural economic development in the South go to www.SmallTownSouth.com.

Kansas Enacts Business-Friendly Legislation

Kansas lawmakers have passed a bill that enables companies that create 100 new jobs or more within five years to retain 95 percent of state payroll withholding taxes for seven to 10 years. The number of years that withholding can be retained depends on the amount by which the wages paid exceed the average wage in the county where the project is located.  

Alabama Governor Riley Assumes Chairmanship of Southern Governors' Association

On August 24, Alabama Gov. Bob Riley became chairman of the Southern Governors' Association, announcing a new effort to combine the resources and influence of Southern states to promote and protect mutual economic interests. Gov. Riley takes over for 2008-2009 SGA Chairman and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.

As his chairman's initiative, an effort Southern governors will focus on for the next year, Gov. Riley chose "Securing Southern Economic Success." This initiative will include:

* Collaborating on economic development efforts to benefit the region and "selling the American South" to the rest of the world.
* Engaging Southern governors in ongoing discussions about federal policies that could negatively affect the South.

"For the last decade or more, the South has set the pace for the rest of the nation in economic growth," Riley said. "There has been more positive growth, more investment, and more progress coming to the Southern states than perhaps any other region. We need to protect what has given us our competitive edge. As governors, we need to take a hard look at what's going on in Washington and see how it could affect our states. I think we'll find, as we always do, that we have more in common than we sometimes realize."

Riley went on to say, "Over the next year, I'll work with my fellow governors to explore our individual economic goals and find ways to collaborate on promoting the South around the world. This is a critical time for our Southern states. It's time for us to work together. It's time to combine our economic development efforts to create a better future for our children and our grandchildren. This year I want us to commit to a collective effort unlike anything we've ever seen before. We can show the world what the American South has to offer -- and we can do it together," Riley said.

The SGA is composed of governors from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia and West Virginia.

J.D. Power Ranks Southern Power Companies

J.D. Power recently published its 2009 Electric Utility Residential Customer Satisfaction Study and CPS Energy, Duke Energy-Carolinas, Progress Energy Carolinas, Alabama Power, Georgia Power and Oklahoma Gas and Electric all scored well in the "large segment" category in the South region. In the "midsize segment," Santee Cooper, Jackson EMC, Gulf Power, Mississippi Power, Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas & Electric were at the top of their peer group in the South according to the study.

Want to Start Over? Here are some Location Candidates in the South

Richmond, Winston-Salem, Amarillo, D.C., Beaumont-Port Arthur, Louisville, Waco, Shreveport-Bossier City, Jacksonville and Gulfport-Biloxi were all ranked by BusinessWeek recently as attractive places in the South where struggling Americans can find a fresh start. The magazine ranked 20 markets in the U.S. where jobs are available and real estate is affordable. Of the 20 ranked markets, 10 cities are located in the South, five are located in the West, three in the Northeast and two in the Midwest.

Virginia, Texas Top CNBC's Top States for Business Ranking

Virginia was named America's top state for business in CNBC's annual survey, edging out Texas. The cable news channel ranks states on 40 different measures of competitiveness, including cost of doing business, work force, quality of life and business friendliness. Kansas, North Carolina and Georgia were other Southern states that made CNBC's top ten for business in '09. Ranking 49th and 50th were Hawaii and Alaska respectively. 

Tennessee's Rural Loan Fund Earns National Award

The Tennessee Rural Opportunity Fund has won the 2009 Multi-Community Program Award for populations over 100,000. The recognition has come from Bismarck, N.D.-based Business Retention and Expansion International. The rural development fund, considered the first of its kind in the South, is a $10 million revolving loan fund that is a partnership between the Tennessee Bankers Association, the Southeast Community Capital Corp. and the State of Tennessee. For more information on economic development in the rural South go to www.SmallTownSouth.com.

QUIZ ANSWER:

The five states that have lost the most manufacturing jobs since July 2008 are Ohio (-127,000 jobs), California (-123,400), Michigan (-108,900), Illinois (-83,500) and Indiana (-80,800). Of the nation's 13.8 million manufacturing jobs in July 2008, 8.4 million were located in either the South (4.6 million manufacturing jobs) or the Midwest (3.8 million), by far the two-largest manufacturing regions in the U.S. Since July 2008, the South has lost 477,000 manufacturing jobs (-10.4 percent) and the Midwest has lost 596,000 (-15.6 percent).

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