Kansas named a top 10 state in Site Selection magazine’s Competitiveness Awards

State’s high ranking is second in four weeks by a major business publication

Site Selection magazine has named Kansas one of the nation’s 10 most competitive states for capital investment and new facility development, officials announced today.

The rankings were part of Site Selection’s annual Competitiveness Awards, which recognize the states that score the most points on the magazine’s 10-category index of new facility construction. Kansas was ranked No. 10, finishing just behind South Dakota and Nebraska and giving the state its first top-10 finish since the awards began in 2003.

Complete coverage of the Competitiveness Awards, along with Site Selection’s annual Top Groups and Top Deals coverage, appears in the magazine’s May issue and at www.siteselection.com.

“We are pleased to be recognized by one of the nation’s premier site location publications,” Governor Kathleen Sebelius said. “Kansas’ top-10 ranking by Site Selection magazine is a testament to our attractive business environment, and our target audience is taking note.”

The announcement from Site Selection comes just one month after Pollina Corporate Real Estate, one of the nation’s leading corporate site selection firms, named Kansas among the Top 10 pro-business states in the country. This was the second time in three years that Kansas has made the Pollina list.

“This has really been an exciting few weeks for Kansas business,” said Kansas Department of Commerce Secretary David Kerr. “Between the Pollina announcement April 2, the Governor’s signing of the Cessna Bill on April 23 and now this ranking by Site Selection, I’m feeling really good about the Kansas business climate and the state’s reputation among business and site location leaders around the nation.”

Fiscal Year 2007 saw the Department of Commerce involved in 43 location, expansion or retention projects in which Kansas was competing with out-of-state locations. These projects resulted in 6,800 jobs created or retained and $780 million in capital investment, an increase of $408 million from the previous year. Companies that built or expanded facilities included Pacific Sunwear, Prescription Solutions, Service Magic, Alorica and Capgemini, among others.