Sarasota rated 2nd best in the country for growing a small business

Bizjournals, the Web site of American City Business Journals Inc., rated Sarasota-Bradenton as the 2nd best place in the country to grow a small business. Bizjournals used a 12-part formula to rate the vitality of small-businesses in the nation's 75 largest metropolitan areas.

Sarasota-Bradenton was the second-smallest metro in the study, but it ranks as the second-biggest success story. Only four markets have at least 3,000 small businesses per 100,000 residents, and Sarasota-Bradenton is one of them. The number of small businesses has grown 25 percent in just five years.

The top 10 are:
1. Orlando
2. Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
3. Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
4. Las Vegas
5. Jacksonville, Fla.
6. Raleigh, N.C.
7. Washington, D.C.
8. Salt Lake City, Utah
9. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks, Calif.
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul