The word is out. If you want to start a business, Salt Lake City is a great place to be. A recent ranking published in Inc., with data from Startup Genome, ranked Salt Lake City number two in the nation.
They crunched data and then scored and ranked the top 50 metro areas in the U.S. on seven key indicators ranging from stage funding metrics to job creation.
“The recent Inc. ranking demonstrates our national dominance and commitment to innovation. The work being done by Silicon Slopes companies and entrepreneurs is a true testament to their work ethic, and demonstrates economic development opportunities found throughout our state,” says Val Hale, executive director of the Utah Governor’s Office of Economic Development.
The article notes that tech giants such as Adobe, Electronic Arts and Oracle all have offices in Utah. It also mentions that homegrown internet businesses like Ancestry.com and Omniture employ thousands of people and generate billions in revenue.
People move to Utah not just because of world-class skiing, but also because it’s still much more affordable than other tech hot spots. In the past year, Silicon Slopes has added five new startups valued at more than $1 billion each, including education platform Pluralsight, smart-home equipment maker Vivint, and data analytics firms InsideSales.com, Domo and Qualtrics.
Inc.’s article, “These Are the 50 Best Places in America for Starting a Business,” can be viewed online here.