RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – Barry DuVal, President and CEO of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, issued the following statement regarding Virginia’s recognition as “America’s Top State for Business” by CNBC.

“Virginia’s ranking as the Top State for Business reaffirms our conviction that Virginia is the premier state for business. It highlights our strong education system, availability of business-ready sites, and Virginia’s commitment to economic development and a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. This recognition also supports our strategic approach to grow Virginia’s position as the leading state for business through our targeted policy recommendations in Blueprint Virginia 2030.”

“As we celebrate Virginia being named the Top State for Business, it is important that we continue our work to keep Virginia the best state for business. The Chamber looks forward to continuing to work with business leaders around the Commonwealth to advocate for policies that grow Virginia as we begin our work on our next iteration of Blueprint Virginia – Blueprint Virginia 2035.”

“I would like to thank the Chamber’s Board of Directors and Industry Council Executive Committee members for their continued support of the ideas and focus areas promoted in Blueprint Virginia.”

This is the sixth time CNBC has named Virginia the Top State for Business, the most of any state since the rankings began in 2007. This is also Virginia’s third win in the past five years, following first place results in 2019 and 2021.

CNBC’s methodology incorporated 128 metrics across ten categories. This year, the categories of “Infrastructure,” “Workforce,” and “Economy” were given the most weight in the study. Virginia finished in the top half or better in each of the study’s ten categories, including 1^st in Education, 3^rd in Infrastructure, and 5^th in Business Friendliness. The full methodology can be found here.

The full ranking list can be found here.

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About the Virginia Chamber of Commerce:
The Virginia Chamber of Commerce is the largest business advocacy organization in the Commonwealth, with more than 31,000 members. The Chamber is a non-partisan, business advocacy organization that works in the legislative, regulatory, and political arenas to act as the catalyst for positive change in all areas of economic development and competitiveness for Virginia. In December 2021, the Chamber released its new statewide strategic economic development plan, Blueprint Virginia 2030, which has engaged over 7,000 business, economic development, workforce, education, housing, and other community leaders to lay out a plan to ensure Virginia remains at the top of national business climate rankings. Learn more at  www.blueprintvirginia.org.