Lynchburg MSA moves up for third straight year in “best city” rankings
October 18, 2010
The Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) this week moved up 25
positions over last year in The Milken Institute / Greenstreet Real Estate
Partners Best Performing Cities Index. The MSA includes the four-county Region
2000 geographic area, surrounding the City of Lynchburg.
Lynchburg
ranked 35th of the 200 largest metros in the nation in this study, based on how
well the region creates and sustains jobs, among other economic growth factors.
In 2009, the MSA ranked 60th, and in 2008, 71st. The components of the study
include job growth, wage and salary increases, and technology
growth.
“This once again affirms that our region’s business leaders,
educators and local governments are doing the right things to collectively
strengthen our economy,” said Bryan David, Executive Director, Virginia’s Region
2000 Economic Development Council. “When you dive further into this study you
find that we actually ranked third in the nation for high tech GDP growth over a
five year period.”
According to David, the region has put a heavy focus
on tech-based economic development initiatives such as the creation of the
Center for Advanced Engineering and Research, technology education programs at
local schools and colleges, and a collaborative spirit among industry leaders to
shift manufacturing toward advanced, tech-based products and services.
Among Virginia’s large metros, the Lynchburg MSA ranked second highest
in the state, just after the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria region which moved
from 25th to 6th in the nation. Of the others, Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport
News ranked 78th, Richmond ranked 79th, Roanoke ranked 105th, and
Kingsport-Bristol ranked 131. Smaller Virginia metros such as Danville,
Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, and Winchester were ranked in a separate Small
Cities list.
To view the full Milken Institute report, please visit:
www.milkeninstitute.org.