Monday, March 30, 2009

FORBES MAGAZINE TOUTS KINGSTON


If you check out the City of Kingston website, you'll discover a link to the cherished accolades from Forbes magazine.

Kingston, N.Y. was just named one of the top places for “small business and careers”.

Just in time to reap the possible shift in the economy. Or am I a little early in my assessment? Ah, I'll run with it.

We grabbed spot number 90 out of 179 cities. Right smack in the middle isn't bad considering the thousands of towns & cities they ranked for this coveted prize. 24 thousand to be exact.

The site explains the criteria: crime rate, education, income growth and “net migration”, among other things such as culture and leisure, and housing. When you think about the vastness of our country, I think it's astounding that Kingston has charmed it's way into the hearts of those seeking the ideal city.

The article continues: "The ranking reflects Kingston’s quality of life, public safety and prospects for small businesses and technopreneurs". I am sure the recent embrace of the Digital Corridor concept and the goal to use the Carnegie Library as a digital learning center helped in their selection.

You can sneak a peek at the
KingstonDigitalCorridor.org and the exciting direction Kingston is growing.

Our city site also notes: Business Week magazine ranked Kingston high on a list of desirable cities for artists and creative types considering relocation.

The housing crash has slowed the realestate market a bit, but that is only temporary. Those who wish to escape NYC, are sure to find those bargain homes throughout the Hudson Valley in the months to come. We are just hoping the Forbes and Business Week ratings and Technopreneur name tag will giude those looking to create a geekdom in the Catskills toward the City of Kingston.


http://www.ci.kingston.ny.us/

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

dont you think forbes magazine should have talked to some of the local business that operate with in the city.i dont think they would have been that quick to judge or picked this city,and if they did they sure didnt come to visit this fine city of our's.iv said it in the past as a small business owner. this city DOES NOTHING to either promote or entice me to stay or create a business here.if i had know this is what id be facing after 10 years of conducting business here i would never have done it.EVER.this is the most oppressed city iv ever known.

Anonymous said...

I have this sincere confidence in the impending shift in the market, the migration from New York and the increase of housing stock to make Kingston the new geekdom, as you say.
You and the council, have done much of the ground work for this courageous new mindset. Yes, the fighting continues amongst the bunch of you, but it's healthy and you're all onboard when the issue matters most.

Anonymous said...

OK, so one of your readers has a choice to make, He should either move to where people want what he's selling or alter his business model. What are the odds that the aggression in the comment comes through when there are customers in his shop? my friend, YOU may be the only thing holding you back after all.

Anonymous said...

Great news. Now we can keep the homestead nonhomestead the way it is. If forbes thinks this is a good area who are we to disagree.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the mention Mike. I see a lot of posts here about the struggles of small business and retail.

If the Kingston Digital Corridor initiative can grow the tech geek population it will put more people on the street locally with money in their pockets to spend in local businesses. That being said, a spend locally initiative by the city would be good too.

How about a card that local businesses can punch. When you get twenty punch outs, you can mail it in and get out of one parking ticket?

Just an idea... (I'm here laughing at my computer, but what if it worked to drive business local?)

Anyway, thanks again.

ArthurZ said...

That's an interesting point, Anonymous, regarding the role of the city to promote and/or entice businesses. The KingstonDigitalCorridor.org initiative aims to do that. So does the hiring of a main street manager. Still, some would argue that it's not up to the city to promote any business. They would say that marketing a business in a free market society should be up to the business itself, and not the government.
What king of business are you in? How are you currently marketing yourself? I would be glad to discuss ways you can reposition your marketing efforts.

Best,
Arthur Zaczkiewicz

p.s. Why are there so many anonymous posts here? Just wondering why folks are not comfortable using their names....

Anonymous said...

We must be ranking high somewhere on.... a good place to rob a bank!