CRESTVIEW — The city has appeared on yet another “places rated” type website, this time as fifth among the nation’s “10 Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs.”
Richard Barrington, a spokesperson and personal finance expert for MoneyRates.com, described entrepreneurship as “the rare area of business where youth can be an advantage.”
To rank communities, Barrington looked at four criteria:
●Population growth, which leads to consumer demand
●Young adult affluence, indicated by the percentage of young adults making a competitive wage
●Educational attainment, where a percentage of the population has a bachelor’s degree or higher, and
●Tax environment, with Florida and Texas having relatively low business tax burdens.
ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
“As much as entrepreneurship centers on the special characteristics of individuals, the broader economic environment also makes a difference in whether start-ups succeed or fail, or whether people even attempt them in the first place,” Barrington stated in the online article.
Crestview, together with Fort Walton Beach and Destin, tied with Odessa, Texas, in MoneyRates’ assessment.
“Its location on Florida's panhandle includes the junction of three major highways, which makes it a good hub for business activity,” Barrington wrote.
“Florida also aids entrepreneurs by having one of the nation's lowest rates of business taxation. Additionally, the Crestview area has one of the highest portions of young adult affluence.”
CITY PRAISE
City officials eagerly embraced the recognition.
“Crestview is known as the Hub City and we are a hub that embraces innovation,” Community Redevelopment Agency Director Brenda Smith said in a statement on the article.
“Who better represents innovation than entrepreneurs? We have a lot to offer within the city and especially our historical downtown district,” Smith stated.
The Crestview, Fort Walton Beach and Destin metropolitan area ranked third on the list of Cities with Affluent Young People, with 45.59 percent of 18-24-year-olds having an income three times or more higher than the state poverty rate.
“Younger people like millennials…have less to lose in terms of an established career and salary, and so they can be more willing to put what they have at risk to create a new business,” Barrington wrote. “As people grow older, they tend to lose this appetite for risk.”
BUSINESS CLIMATE
The Okaloosa County cities tied for fourth place on the Cities with a Favorable Business Climate list, as ranked by the Tax Foundation’s 2016 State Business Tax Climate report.
The local cities tied with the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford; The Villages; Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island; and Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro areas.
“To be ranked among the Top Ten Cities for Young Entrepreneurs and declared fifth in the nation is a great honor and recognition,” Smith stated.
MoneyRates.com ranked these communities as the 10 Best Cities for Young Entrepreneurs.
1. Austin/Round Rock, Texas
2. Raleigh, North Carolina
3. Midland, Texas
4. Houston/The Woodlands/Sugar Land, Texas
5. Crestview/Fort Walton Beach/Destin
5. (Tie) Odessa, Texas
7. Sioux Falls, South Dakota
8. The Villages, Florida
9. Denver/Aurora/Lakewood, Colorado
10. Orlando/Kissimmee/Sanford, Florida
BY THE NUMBERS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Report: Crestview area attracts young entrepreneurs