Thanks to high rankings in the categories of workforce, transportation and the cost of doing business, Utah moved up six spots to finish second this year in CNBC’s sixth annual study of "America’s Top States for Business."
Utah, which made the top five in 2007, 2008 and 2009, this time around outscored Virginia for the No. 2 spot, but its point total was below the winner, Texas (maybe because CNBC ranked Utah 45th in education).
CNBC noted the rankings were based on the same 10 categories as years past, but that the 51 criteria were tweaked to reflect changes in the ways states market themselves. It also noted that this year, at the suggestion of a number of state officials, it add state credit ratings to the criteria, which were used to help score the survey’s economy category. Salt Lake Tribune
