As the economy struggles to gain traction, American cities also are hard at work to keep current businesses as well as bring in new ones. According to a report by consulting firm KPMG, some cities are better positioned to attract the headquarters, factories and office space of America’s businesses. 24/7 
Wall St. examined the 10 most competitive cities to find out what makes them so attractive. What it generally boils down to is how cheap these cities are for businesses.
Interestingly, the most competitive cities — the least expensive ones for businesses — tend to have the lowest economic production among the cities covered in the report. While, for the most part, the least competitive cities — because they are most expensive — are also the cities with the highest gross domestic product……
And Ranking at #7
St. Louis, Mo,
– GDP: $125.22 billion
– Unemployment: 8.4%
– Median Income: $50,913
St. Louis’s competitiveness, according to the KPMG report, arises from its low factory lease costs and cheap electricity. Tax Foundation Ranked St. Louis 14th best among 51 cities for taxes conducive to new businesses. According to KPMG, the city has burgeoning aerospace, biotech and telecom industries. In addition, the metropolitan region is among the five cheapest for green energy, auto manufacturing and agri-foods business, with the lowest electricity costs in each of these sectors across all 27 U.S. metropolitan regions.
Read more – Best American Cities for Business – 24/7 Wall St. http://247wallst.com/2012/04/04/best-american-cities-for-business/#ixzz1rB5WyTO0
