Dallas Named 'Best City for Business' By Fortune Magazine

DALLAS, TX -- Fortune magazine's 1999 ranking of the country's top corporate locations has Dallas occupying the #1 position on the list for the first time. The magazine cited a variety of factors in choosing Dallas, including economic growth, cost of living, the lack of a state income tax, and even the city's consistently pleasant weather. "It really is special when one of the world's leading publications honors your city," said Dave Whitney, president/CEO of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau. "We believe our mission is to assist in making this city appealing There is no question that Dallas is establishing itself in the world market." Fortune also specified Dallas' status as the least densely populated metropolitan area in the world, along with its wide variety of arts, professional sports, and restaurants as reasons businesses are attracted to the city. However, the "secret weapon" Dallas has, according to the magazine, is ease of travel -- both to and from the city, thanks to D/FW International Airport, and within the city, thanks to the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART). Just in the last year, metropolitan Dallas has added nearly 100,000 new jobs. To compile this year's list, Fortune enlisted researchers at Arthur Andersen, who focused on four major criteria: cost of doing business, overall business environment, "caliber" of the local workforce, and quality of life. The researchers analyzed data regarding 160 cities from dozens of public and private sources as well as from a survey sent to 1700 senior corporate executives. The full text of the Fortune article, "What's So Great About Dallas?," is available at http://www.pathfinder.com/fortune/bestcities/. Visit the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau on the Web at http://www.dallascvb.com/. © 1999, Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau.