Ardmore was listed in the Top Ten of small markets in the South in Southern Business & Development magazine’s special 15th anniversary edition. The edition identifies “The Best Places in the South to Locate Your Company.”
The magazine targets business executives who decide where big corporate dollars are spent.
Ardmore is the only Oklahoma community to make the Top Ten. Communities are categorized into the top 100 major markets, top 50 mid-markets and top 100 small markets. Ranking is based on performance of attracting companies with 200 or more jobs.
Companies that want to locate in the South prefer to do business with winners, or those who have done it before, according to Michael Randle, publisher of the magazine. The top 250 markets profiled in the bonus issue are winners over the course of 15 years of economic development in the south, Randle said.
The Top Ten communities range in trade area population from a low of 57,000 in Ardmore to a high of 523,249 in Aiken, S.C. Average population is 160,044.
Aiken, S.C. could realistically be included in the mid-markets category because its population area is so large, according to Wes Stucky, president, Ardmore Development Authority. It is included in the small markets because the population in the city limits is only 28,829. Ardmore’s city limits population was listed as 24,535, but Stucky said “The trade area and the pool of potential employees that is so critical to business is only one-tenth that of Aiken.”
The cost of living index ranged from a low of 69 in Martinsville, Vir., to a high of 90 in Aiken. The average index was 78.8. Ardmore’s cost of living at 75 fell below the average.
Other Oklahoma towns making the top 100 list of small communities included: Bartlesville, Pryor and Mid-America Industrial Park, Ada and Lawton. Both Tulsa, No. 13, and Oklahoma City, No. 19, made the top 100 list of large communities. No Oklahoma cities were included in the mid-markets category.
Where We Rank
The Top Ten small markets in the South by Southern Business & Development magazine include:
n Aiken, S.C.
n Martinsville, Va.
n Auburn-Opelika, Ala.
n Danville, Va.
n Statesville, N.C.
n Tuscaloosa, Ala.
n Ardmore
n Bowling Green, Ky.
n Jackson, Tenn.
n Rocky Mount, N.C.
