Introduction

More than any other region, the South welcomes new industry!

Welcome to sb-d.com, the official Website of Southern Business & Development magazine. Here you will find more information pertaining to expanding or relocating your company to the "world's third-largest economy" than what can be found anywhere else. Why a Website built and dedicated to executives searching the American South for a corporate or industrial site? That's an easy answer. The South is by far the nation's most active region for corporate investment and job generation. More companies move and expand here than any other U.S. region.

For example, did you know that the South is the most populated region of the U.S? That fact alone tells you how attractive the South is for companies and families alike. In 1970, the populations of the Midwest, Northeast and the South were about the same -- 56 million. Today, just over 30 years later, the Midwest has a population of 64 million, the northeast 52 million and the South now boasts of a population right at 100 million persons. That's an incredible increase in just 30 years.

In addition, did you know that the South is:

* the most preferred region for investment by foreign companies by a large margin?
* the least unionized and most right-to-work region in the world's richest country?
* the nation's region with the lowest hours of vehicular delay?
* the region of the U.S. with the lowest utility rates?
* the world's third-largest economy?
* where business costs are the lowest in the U.S?
* where taxes are the lowest in the U.S?
* dominating the worlds' economic development industry?
* leading all regions by a wide margin in new incorporations?
* second to the Northeast in residents with advanced degrees?
* the region with the lowest business failure rate, almost half that of the West?
* the leader over all U.S. regions in every Gross Regional Product category except for financial services?
* the region of the U.S. with the lowest per capita debt?

Pretty impressive statistics, huh? But there's more and you can read about opportunities in the South for your company every quarter in Southern Business & Development and every day when you go to sb-d.com. You can subscribe to SB&D on this site and if you qualify, we'll send it to you free of charge. And if you are interested in getting more information on opportunities for your business in the South, you can click the free information button or fill out the subscription form and answer the questions that are presented.

For even more information on sites in the South, click on the DestinationSouthlink icon found on sb-d.com. Here you can enter a criteria-based or location-based search and compare data on sites in any number of categories, factors and sectors.

Unlike some regions of the country, we welcome industry in the South. This Website and Southern Business & Development are your guides to corporate site searching of this dynamic region.

You can contact Mike Randle, the publisher and owner of Southern Business & Development at mike@sb-d.com or call him at 205-733-1970. Feel free to ask him what sites in the South are best suited for your operation. He knows. He's visited over 1,400 markets in the South since 1992.