Scottsdale among 2015’s top cities to start a business

The city of Scottsdale has been named a top-10 city to start a business, according to San Francisco deal-sourcing and research platform DataFox.

DataFox constructed the list by evaluating each city’s availability of capital, cost of living, success of early-stage companies and the overall status of the community.

Each city on this list has many different characteristics, but each do share common advantages: strong connections, centralized locations and the ability to embrace their own surroundings to advance their businesses.

Scottsdale ranks eighth, sandwiched between Atlanta and St. Louis.

DataFox says Scottsdale’s biggest advantage is the city’s access to Arizona State University and its partnerships.

“Scottsdale fosters deep connections between entrepreneurs, students and community members: for example, SkySong, the live-work center for resources and capital for entrepreneurs, is the result of a collaboration between the city and university,” DataFox said. “And according to Hoovers, the city boasts over 13,000 companies founded since 2010 that had at least $5 million in annual revenue.”

Among SkySong, other entrepreneur programs include the Eureka Loft, the Edson Student Entrepreneur Initiative, the ASU Startup Accelerator and the Furnace Technology Transfer Accelerator. According to ASU, over 300 Sun Devils have participated in such programs in the past 10 years.

By utilizing the student body, the city increases the chances these students will stay in Scottsdale post graduation and continue to provide growth in the city.

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