Las Cruces has been ranked as one of Inc. Magazines "Top 25 Cities for Doing Business in America" (Inc. Magazine, March 2004). Las Cruces is considered the 16th best small city for doing business, ahead of such (alleged) powerhouses as Duluth, Minnesota (93rd), Sioux City, Iowa (84th), and its northern neighbor, Santa Fe, New Mexico (27th). Inc. also ranked Las Cruces as the sixth "Fastest, Most Sustained Growth" city from among 277 regions included in the Bureau of Labor Statistics database for "state and area" regions. Those regions cover large, medium, and small cities across the country. "If you're looking for cities, large, medium, and small, where job growth is robust and economies are strong, head to one of this year's Top Cities," boasts the Inc. article written by Joel Kotkin. Kotkin is a Senior Fellow at the Davenport Institute for Public Policy at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, California. "Many publications and business owners are finding Las Cruces to be an excellent place to start or relocate their business. Las Cruces offers a talented workforce, favorable business conditions, and offers employees an affordable and enjoyable lifestyle," Ericson added.