Logan first among small U.S. cities for business

An economic think tank has ranked Logan first among small cities in the U.S. for being a good business community.
The Milken Institute, founded in 1991 and based in California, has released a new list of best performing cities for the year. Salt Lake City, Provo and Ogden ranked in the Top 25 among large metro cities, while Logan ranked No. 1 among small cities.

Logan skyrocketed from its No. 19 ranking in last year's list.
The research looked at 179 small cities and 200 large metros. In the large-city category, Salt Lake was ranked No. 6, Provo was listed at No. 9, and Ogden took the 15th spot on the list. St. George, which falls in the small-city category, was ranked 124th. No other Utah cities made the list.
The Milken Institute, which releases an annual index, noted that Utah cities made in impressive showing this year.
"Utah was the only state to double its volume of exports over the past five years, and Salt Lake's economy is highly diversified, with pharmaceuticals, medical devices, transportation equipment, financial services, and high-tech companies," Milken representatives wrote in a media release.
In this report, Logan is looked at as a metropolitan area, which includes about 130,000 people through all of Cache Valley, including parts of Idaho.
Logan scored high in several areas. It was ranked sixth in its five-year, relative high-tech gross domestic product growth; and ninth in high-tech gross domestic product location quotient, which is a measure of high-tech concentration. And the city ranked first among small cities nationwide for its number of highly concentrated high-tech industries. In that category, Logan received a score of 9; the U.S. average is 1, and anything higher indicates a higher concentration.
Cache Chamber of Commerce CEO Sandy Emile called the report "fabulous news."
"It's been an outstanding year for Cache County and Logan, in general, in terms of recognition that we've had in a downturned economy," she said. "To still be on the nation's radar for doing business ... this is just another feather in our cap."
The Milken Institute index includes measures of job, wage and technology performance in ranking the areas. It does not use quality-of-life metrics, including commute times and housing costs.
San Antonio, Texas, was ranked No. 1 among large metros.
In a statement from Utah Gov. Gary Herbert, he said the new research is "further evidence that Utah continues to be the most impressive economy in the country."
"Our work ethic, our skilled labor force, and our business-friendly environment - exemplified by these four cities - continue to fuel expansion and job growth in Utah," he said.
Emile said she thinks Logan's showing on the list is evidence of "excellent leadership" in local municipalities.
"There is a visioning process that's going on in Logan and in Cache County that allows us to make decisions to move us forward systematically and intelligently without jumping to some rapid growth conclusions," she said.
Representatives from the Governor's Office of Economic Development said Utah's cities have led the economic charge over the past year.
Executive Director Spencer Eccles commented on the list through a press release issued Friday.
"We recognize that communities across the state, large and small, have all created unique and innovative strategies that have resulted in accelerated business development and job creation. Classic examples include Logan's No. 1 ranking as a best-performing small city versus last year's No. 19 rank," he said. "Clearly all Utah's cities are pulling together in the same direction."

Source: Herald Journal