Spokane one of 50 best cities to start a business in 2020

Inc.com recently published their list of "The 50 Best Cities to Start a Business in 2020" by the Surge Cities index, Inc. and not only were we ranked the 31st best city in the entire country to start a business, but Spokane was also ranked 6th in the specific criteria category for Rate of Entrepreneurship!

Here's what they had to say!

Logistics and manufacturing companies thrive in Spokane, Washington where costs are low and the Pacific Northwest’s largest cities are all a few hours’ drive away. It’s also still remarkably affordable, which tends to serve as an added inducement for transplants. “What you hear from a lot of people is that places like Seattle and San Francisco are so cool, but the cost of that cool is so much more than they can afford,” says Luke Baumgarten, founder of co-working space Fellow Coworking. “So they come to Spokane, with its gritty blue-collar vibe and the proximity to nature. They quickly realize it’s a pretty awesome place.” And business is undoubtedly a fixture: Gonzaga University, located in the city’s center, offers one of the top-rated business programs in the country, and medical schools at the University of Washington and Washington State help fuel health care and biotech startups. As a sign of what’s coming: Spokane added more construction jobs in the past year than all but two U.S. cities, and its rate of entrepreneurship also reached new heights. --Kevin Ryan