Auburn-Opelika was named the third best small-size metro area in the nation for attracting and opening small businesses, according to a report released Thursday, June 21.
Expansion Management magazine along with the National Policy Research Council, a non-partisan think tank, worked together to compile lists of the most popular cities and counties for business expansion and relocation. More than 19 million companies were monitored over an eight year period for this study.
“It’s really no surprise, since we’re sandwiched between Montgomery with the Hyundai plant and Lagrange and the Kia plant,” Auburn mayor Bill Ham Jr. said. “It’s pretty obvious that (the city) would be in the upper numbers.”
The report’s primary focus was to determine the most popular places which successfully attracted small business and thus expanded the local economy. The rankings were calculated by two factors: relocation rate and new branch rate. This took into consideration all small business that relocated to a new area or were established in a new area which not only stayed afloat, but became thriving assets to the market.
Tim Babe, co-owner of Eccentric located at 106A N. College Street, said the seasonal flux of students and residents makes business difficult at times.
“(Auburn’s) a hard place to start a business, but it’s a nice community,” Babe said. “Auburn-Opelika is a place where people from Beauregard and Loachapoka and other small area communities come to shop, whereas we go to Atlanta or Birmingham, which helps business out.”
While consumer demand does impact potential success, several other factors attribute to the local businesses’ prosperity. Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said a variety of reasons account for Auburn-Opelika’s high ranking.
“The quality of life in our cities is extremely good,” Fuller said. “We have great public schools along with Southern Union and Auburn University. We have an abundance of recreational opportunities, and our medical facilities, like the East Alabama Medical Center, are impeccable.”
The “Top Cities for Business Attraction” study is the first of its kind.
The destinations were divided into cities and counties, which were further divided by size into large, midsize and small metros and counties.
Auburn-Opelika was not the only Alabama city to be mentioned on the list. In fact, the state of Alabama as a whole ranked ninth best out of the entire nation. Huntsville was ranked the second best city in the midsize-metro category, only behind Canton-Massillon, Ohio. Mobile was ranked 20th on the same list.
Alabama cities definitely dominated the small-metro category with four cities being named. Behind Auburn-Opelika came Montgomery in ninth, Gadsden in 11th and Anniston in 15th.
Lee County came in seventh in the small-county category, while Jefferson County, encompassing the Birmingham and Hoover areas, was ranked
19th in the midsize-county category.
“I think it is important for people to remember how critical small businesses are to the Alabama economy,” said Todd Stacy, deputy press secretary of the office to Gov. Bob Riley. “While we love to see outside companies invest here and bring in jobs, it is also nice to see that our home-grown Alabama businesses are thriving as well.”
“The challenge for us in city government is to handle city development, so that in five or 10 years from now, we’re prepared for the future,” Mayor Fuller said. “There is no question our best days are ahead of us.”
Source: Auburn Plainsman