BusinessWeek Names Sparks as the Best City for Starting a Business in Nevada
BusinessWeek Magazine this week announced the City of Sparks as the best city for starting a business in Nevada. The national ranking comes as good news for city officials and economic development groups looking to promote Sparks and the Greater Reno-Tahoe region as a place for companies to invest and for startup companies to thrive during this economic downturn.
"I am not surprised that BusinessWeek has selected Sparks as the best place to start a business," said Sparks Mayor Geno Martini. "We have worked hard over the years to create a business climate that is desirable for entrepreneurs to prosper because we realize that their success is our success. I am delighted with the news which will help many potential startup businesses take notice of Sparks."
According to the analysis conducted by BusinessWeek using demographic and geographic data from ZoomProspector.com, BusinessWeek searched cities across the United States with populations ranging from 20,000 to 200,000 people to compile the list. The rankings were calculated based on 11 factors to measure a city's entrepreneurial climate, including the number of small businesses and startups, the quality of workforce, how many universities are in the community, and measures of innovation such as the number of patents issued and the amount of venture capital invested.
Based on the data, Sparks showed 3.18 startups per 1,000 people and 35 small businesses per 1,000 people which helped catapult the city to the top in Nevada. "BusinessWeek is one of the most respected business publications and this recognition should highlight the economic development efforts in Sparks," said Anatolio Ubalde, CEO and co-founder of ZoomPropsector.com. The profile of demographic and business data for Sparks is available at http://www.zoomprospector.com/CommunityDetail.aspx?id=16945&f=1.
Local economic development officials see the national media coverage as a key tool in building awareness of the region with other startup companies that may be looking to launch their business in Greater Reno-Tahoe. "We know from research that corporate business executives learn about possible places to locate their companies from news stories and BusinessWeek is a credible news source that executives look to for the latest in business and industry trends," said Chuck Alvey, president and CEO for the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada (EDAWN). "The national ranking will certainly enhance our regional efforts to attract new business and jobs to the area."
The head of Nevada's Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET), a group that promotes entrepreneurism in Nevada, touts the ranking as good for Nevada. "Small businesses which represent 95 percent of Nevada's businesses have known for a long time that Nevada is one of the nation's best places to start a business," said Dave Archer, CEO of NCET. "Having BusinessWeek chose to recognize Sparks as being one of our great places to live and a great place to start a business benefits our entire region and state."
About the City of Sparks: The City of Sparks is located in northwestern Nevada. Sparks (population 90,000) is in a high desert climate at an elevation of nearly 4,500 feet with four full seasons and sunshine more than 80 percent of the year. The City is most widely known as the premiere special events venue for northern Nevada, bringing thousands of visitors to the City's Victorian Square. Sparks shares the beautiful Truckee Meadows valley with its neighbor to the west, Reno, and is an hour's drive to scenic Lake Tahoe. For more information, visit www.ci.sparks.nv.us
About EDAWN: EDAWN is a private, non-profit corporation founded by community leaders in 1982 to diversify the Greater Reno-Tahoe economy by recruiting, expanding and starting up quality companies that have a positive impact on the region's quality of life. Reno was named the No. 1 Place for Doing Business in America 2005 by Inc. magazine. For more information on doing business in Greater Reno-Tahoe, visit www.edawn.org.