Virginia Beach and Richmond both scored in the Top 10 of Foreign Direct Investment magazine’s ranking of “best mid-sized American cities” for attracting foreign investment. By “American” cities, the magazine refers to cities in both North and South America.
Canadian cities totally pwned the mid-sized city rankings, with London, Hamilton, Quebec City, Surrey and Brampton all seizing spots in the top 10. The two Virginia cities shared the spotlight with only two other U.S. cities, New Orleans and Albuquerque.
The magazine collected data for 422 cities in five categories: economic potential, human resources, cost-effectiveness, infrastructure and business friendliness. A sixth category covered fDi strategy.
New York won the top spot for large cities, followed by Sao Paulo…. and then Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. (Man, we need some of that Canadian secret sauce!)
In the sub-category rankings, Virginia Beach snagged a No. 9 position for economic potential and Norfolk a No. 3 slot for infrastructure.
Mayor Dwight Jones had the following to say: “I have always believed that Richmond’s best days are still to come and have made it a priority to invest in assets to continue to attract the best and brightest.”
— JAB