LOS ANGELES – Silicon Valley, the largest and most influential
high-tech center in the world, continues to lead all other metropolitan
regions in North America in the breadth and scope of economic activity
it creates through technological innovation. But many other metros have
built strong and diverse industries that should allow them to prosper
when the global economy recovers, according to a new report from the
Milken Institute.
“High-tech industries are an important and sustaining anchor for regions to survive the slump and to rebuild their economies around high-wage jobs,” says Ross DeVol, Director of Regional Economics at the Institute and author of the newly released report, North America’s High-Tech Economy: The Geography of Knowledge-Based Industries.
“Every sector has been impacted by the current economic downturn, but high-tech centers will come out on top,” continues DeVol. “In 2003, many said that the era of technology-based economic development was over. However, the industry defied the naysayers and grew rapidly in the following years, proving that regions that promote and sustain the vital inputs to a high-tech sector are best prepared to recover and generate broader stability and growth.”
According to the study, which ranks the top high-tech centers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, most of the top tech metros are well known – like Seattle, Cambridge, Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco. But there are many lesser-known regions that have made tremendous inroads in the past decade to build their technology assets, such as Toronto, Canada; Kalamazoo, Mich.; and even Baja California.
The top-ten rankings for the preeminent high-tech metros in North America:
