The May issue of Fast Company magazine names Florida as the country's No. 1 state for "innovation" and credits its major metro areas for creating thriving communities for business startups. Florida lands ahead of traditional innovation powerhouse states like No. 2 Texas, No. 6 California and No. 8 Colorado.
The magazine says Florida has the nation's second-highest rate of new business production and ranks high on fundable.com's venture capital rankings, Startup America says Florida is the No. 3 state for annual revenue per startup, with $1.2 million.
Fast Company also cites the state's fresh focus by major metros on startup cultures and says recruiting efforts to attract venture capital investors are showing early success. The magazine quotes Tonya Elmore, president of the Tampa Bay Innovation Center in Largo, noting the rise of supportive startup programs like "code camp, health camp, startup bus, startup weekend and hackathons" that "didn't take place even three or four years ago."
For its rankings, Fast Company says it analyzed the Bureau of Labor Statistics' launch rate of all private-sector businesses, as well as the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity's percentage of people who are starting new businesses and how that percentage changed over time. It also tallied the percentage of jobs contributed by those less than 3 years old and how that percentage changed over five years, among other measures. For details, go online to http://bit.ly/YWS3ML.