In total, only 24 percent of "Trendsetter" CEOs have ever received one or more location incentives for their company. Among these, state tax incentives included a break on real estate taxes, corporate income and franchise taxes, sales and use taxes, personal income taxes. Government tax incentives included a concession on real estate taxes, personal property taxes, sales taxes, corporate income taxes and other tax deals. 

In total, over half of those that have received incentives -- 13 percent -- report that these breaks played an important role in their location decisions. But, amazingly few -- only six percent -- have ever been in a position of having to choose among attractive packages offered by competing states or municipalities.

"Since these fast-growth companies are legitimate contributors to the tax base and economic vitality of the cities and states where they operate, it's reasonable to believe they would be actively courted by economic development officials across the country," said Steve Hamm, managing partner of middle market advisory services for PricewaterhouseCoopers. "But apparently in the big dance, three in four end up as wallflowers."

Despite the limp economy, 34 percent of companies expect to expand their operations to other U.S. locations over the next 12 to 24 months. Of these, most are planning to put down roots in new states where they currently have no business interests.

Among those expanding, the most important factors in location decisions are labor availability and productivity (cited by 60 percent) and favorable operating costs (58 percent). And, to a lesser degree, "Trendsetter" companies are motivated by: following customer or client opportunities (38 percent), transportation access (35 percent), physical viability of the site (33 percent), and infrastructure capacity (31 percent).

"One would imagine that state and local officials would collaborate on proposals positioning their targeted location as flush with attractive assets for growth companies--with a page of prospective sweeteners featured at the end," noted Hamm. "But often these location initiatives fall victim to timing issues. Businesses planning expansion would be wise to let state and local officials know of their interest well in advance, and set aside more planning time to allow for proper negotiations."

For more information about Barometer surveys, including a list of the "Best" and "Worst" states for tax incentives, click here.

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