Oklahoma City was featured in the December edition of Kiplinger’s online newsletter as one of America’s 10 Great Cities for Starting a Business. Citing low start-up costs and strong state government support for business, Kiplinger says that Oklahoma City entrepreneurs have “big advantages” over entrepreneurs in other locations.

Kiplinger considered large metropolitan areas with high concentrations of small businesses and a history of incubating startups to success, patents per 10,000 residents, and a good invested venture capital invested in startups. The report also considered a cost of living score that is specifically calculated by the Council for Community and Economic Research for the self-employed.

As reported, our region’s cost of doing business is one of the lowest in the country, even lower than in Kansas City or Little Rock.

With more than 23,000 small businesses, invested venture capital of $3.5 million and a patent for every 10,000 residents, Oklahoma shared the list with names you would expect— San Francisco, Seattle, Raleigh, NC, and Washington, DC, and Raleigh.

Among the other cities cited were Houston for its robust startup infrastructure; Indianapolis for the talent from regional universities and invested venture capital only less than San Francisco and Seattle; St. Louis for tax breaks and incentive programs; Minneapolis where more than 70 companies launch each week, and Tampa, a key player in the Startup America Partnership.

Whether it’s visiting with entrepreneurs in the break area at Research Park, enjoying a Bricktown evening out, meeting with enthusiastic angel investors or watching the Devon Tower going up, daily experiences show us that Oklahoma City is a great place to live and do business.

We don’t need a Kiplinger newsletter to remind us that Oklahoma City is a great place for entrepreneurs … but it sure it nice to read that other people recognize just how terrific this city is.