RICHMOND, VA –Virginia Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Barry DuVal today released the following statement on the 2017 Forbes Best States for Business rankings. Forbes has ranked Virginia as #5 in the country for business, up one spot from last year, yet Virginia remains in the bottom half in two important factors: economic climate and business costs:

“We are pleased to see Virginia is moving up in the Forbes business climate rankings, but there is still work to be done. Through our comprehensive Blueprint Virginia 2025 process, the Chamber has identified challenges to economic growth and is prepared to deliver recommendations to meet those challenges this Friday at our Economic Summit. As the Forbes rankings note, we still remain in the bottom half for business costs and economic climate – two very important challenges to regaining our No. 1 ranking. In addition, while we are pleased to have risen slightly in the Forbes rankings, Virginia’s overall ranking in this and other business climate studies has trended downward over the past 6 years. Blueprint Virginia 2025 outlines an action plan that will improve our business climate and in turn our national rankings. We look forward to presenting our recommendations to Governor-elect Northam and General Assembly Members this Friday.”

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