Harrison, White Plains, And Mount Kisco Among Best Places In New York To Start A Business

The county was represented well on a list of New York’s 83 top places to launch new ventures.

Three Westchester towns placed in the top 10 places to start a business in New York, according to a list of 83 different cities and towns compiled by NerdWallet.   

Harrison was ranked in the number five spot, followed by White Plains (sixth), and Mount Kisco (ninth). Other Westchester towns that ranked on the list were Rye (19th), Tarrytown (21nd), Scarsdale (30th), Mamaroneck (32nd), Dobbs Ferry (45th), New Rochelle (47th), Port Chester (62nd), Yonkers (72nd), Ossining (74th), Peekskill (75th), and Mount Vernon (81st).

Harrison is home to the headquarters of a number of large corporations, including Transamerica Retirement Solutions, PepsiCo, and MasterCard. Harrison’s hamlet of Purchase is also home to two universities, Manhattanville College and SUNY Purchase College. Harrison businesses also bring in a yearly average revenue of $4.2 million per business.

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“I have spent the past few years helping a variety of new businesses repurpose some of the older facilities on the Platinum Mile, in Harrison,” says Harrison Mayor Ron Belmont. “It’s also important to reinforce that the work we did in West Harrison, to revitalize the Silver Lake business district, is a prelude to what is about to happen in downtown Harrison. The improvements to this area will be driven by the MTA’s transit-oriented development and Avalon’s investment in our downtown central business district.” 

NerdWallet analyzed 83 places in New York with populations of 10,000 or more. Cities and towns with fewer than 500 businesses were not considered, regardless of population. Business climate made up 65 percent of the overall score; local economic health made up the remaining 35 percent. Both scores were determined by metrics from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Climate was determined based on average revenue of the businesses, percentage of businesses with paid employees, and businesses per 100 people. Local economic health comprised median annual income, median annual housing costs, and local unemployment rate.

White Plains came in right behind Harrison, boasting both the largest population on the list (57,153) and the most businesses (9,387). White Plains also is home to a number of business-related organizations, including the White Plains Downtown Business Improvement District, the Westchester County Association, and the Women’s Enterprise Development Center.

“In White Plains, we work hard to welcome new businesses,” says Mayor Thomas Roach. “The city has always been a business, shopping and entertainment hub. This in itself is attractive to new businesses because they know that every day there’s a huge influx of people into the city who will, in turn, patronize and support their business. White Plains is also easy to get to by car or by train, we have the largest network of municipal parking garages and lots in the county, a very low crime rate, and a thriving downtown core with hundreds of new residential units being built or in the pipeline.”

Mount Kisco, despite having the smallest population out of the top 10, has the highest business-to-population ratio at 17:100. Mount Kisco’s 1,911 businesses bring in almost $1,000,000 in revenue per business each year.

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“The residents of the greater Mount Kisco area are committed to our downtown area. Whether shopping, dining, strolling, or socializing, our business districts offer a warm and friendly experience,” says Mount Kisco Mayor Michael Cindrich.

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