Try Wyoming

BUSINESS ADVANTAGE: Wyoming is the least-populated state in the US. It's known for its wide-open spaces and cool, fresh air. So what does it have to offer business? Wide-open spaces and cool, fresh air.

Wyoming is roughly half the size of Germany in geographical area, but it has fewer than 600,000 residents. Its capital, Cheyenne, the largest city in the state, has a population of just 56,000. The state is most famous for Yellowstone Park, beautiful mountain ranges, cowboys and cattle.

Now the state's governor, Matt Mead, is starting a campaign to attract high-tech industry and jobs to Wyoming. He says the low temperatures, with an average of 15 °C, offer perfect conditions for data-processing centres.

Data centres house rows of computer servers which offer great processing capacity, but which generate large amounts of heat. In most data centres, the cost of air conditioning makes up about a third of the electricity bill. In Wyoming, says Mead, companies can use the natural climate to cool buildings for nine months of the year.

Logistics company FedEx has established a data centre in the state, and the National Center for Atmospheric Research is building a $50 million institute there to hold one of the most powerful supercomputers in the country. State politicians hope to attract other large organizations as well, in particular from the media, telecommunications and IT industries.

Companies can cool data centres with fresh air for nine months of the year.

State representatives also point to an attractive business climate, with low land prices, low energy prices and no  state income tax. One disadvantage is that Wyoming is ranked last in the US in the availability of high-speed data networks. Governor Mead intends to make the expansion of broadband access a priority. "We have to work on connectivity," he told The Wall Street Journal.