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Virginia was named as the top state for business in CNBC's 2019 Top State for Business study, an annual ranking based on 64 metrics in 10 categories including workforce, quality of life, cost of living and more criteria. Amazon's decision to place their $5 billion HQ2 project in Arlington and Alexandria, their East Coast headquarters that will employ 25,000 in the next 10 years, was part of CNBC's reasoning behind the state's ranking. Virginia has been named the top state for business previously in 2007, 2009 and 2011.