Driving back home from Northern Virginia in mid-February I got into an accident on I-95 Southbound when my car spun out in the snow. I ended up spinning 180 degrees and the front of my car was hit by the front of another car. The car ended up amazingly with just a minor scratch (which was helped by the fact everyone was going slow due to just coming out of a toll area). But nonetheless, the next morning when I pulled into my driveway on a 67 degree day in Durham I truly felt home. This feeling inspired me to think a bit about why I love being in this area and why it's such a great place to build a company. We might not have as many companies as D.C., as many people as New York, or as developed of a capital network as Silicon Valley. But our homes aren't $800,000, there's not terrible traffic, we're not at risk of an earthquake anytime soon, and it's not freezing most of the year. After coming to the area five years ago to go to UNC, here's why I feel central North Carolina is the best place in the United States to build a business.

1. The Great Universities - UNC, Duke, and NC State. All research universities and all world class institutions generating thousands of smart graduates for the workforce every year and tremendous technology transfer opportunities.
2. The Great Companies in the Research Triangle and Durham - Home to Sony Ericson, Cisco, Nortel, Quintiles, SAS, and IBM, as well as great entrepreneurial companies like Motricity, Channel Advisor, rPath, Broadwick, StrikeIron, Visitar, Metabolon, Near-Time, Taproot Systems, Innerpulse, Brightdoor Systems, Bright View, Radarfind, Therasim, 6th Sense Analytics, Integrian, Covelight, Overture Networks, Ziptronix, SciQuest, Argos Therepeutics, and Inspire Pharmaceuticals.
3. The Friendly Business Community - People are willing to help you here. Organizations like the Council for Entrepreneurial Development help aspiring entrepreneurs learn the ropes and get access to help and capital and the Durham, Chapel Hill and Raleigh Chambers of Commerce are developed and active. Groups like the Entrepreneurs' Organization and The Indus Entrepreneurs provide lots of great networking opportunities, and we have great law firms that understand entrepreneurs like Hutchinson Law Group, Smith Anderson, Kennedy Covington, Daniels Daniels and Verdonik, and Wyrick Robbins.
4. The Weather - It's warm nine months per year, but there are still seasons. It snows twice a year, but it's in the 70s by mid-March. And there's very little humidity in the summer.
5. The Talented & Experienced Workforce - We have experience executives from larger corporations, and lots of people with start-up experience who have a balanced perspective to building companies
6. The Location - The Triangle is the only place in the world within 1 hour flight of: D.C, New York, Atlanta, and Tampa. We've got an international airport with direct flights to every major city in the country.
7. The Access to Capital - We have some great venture firms here in the Triangle including Intersouth, Aurora, Southern Capitol Ventures, NC IDEA, Wakefield Group, River Cities Capital as well as access to the firms in Atlanta (Noro Moseley and HIG) and the firms in D.C. (Novak Biddle, Core Capital, Valhalla, JMI Equity, and Updata). We also have some great venture banks in the Triangle like Square One Bank and Silicon Valley Bank.
8. Three Cities in One - We have one metropolis, but three distinct areas (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill) each with their own feel, events, cultural activities, parks and rec facilities, and great restaurants.
9. The Great Primary & Secondary Education - We have some of the best public primary and secondary schools in the country, let alone in North Carolina. At the secondary level, Chapel Hill High, East Chapel Hill, Green Hope, Cary High, Enloe, and Broughton are some of the best in the State.
10. The Relative Lack of Traffic Delays - While we may sometimes complain about I40 westbound at 8:30am and I40 eastbound at 5:30pm, really the worst delays the traffic might ever cause is 15 minutes. In comparison to other major areas in the Southeast (Atlanta and D.C.) and California, this is nothing.
11. ACC Basketball - There truly is nothing like March in the Triangle. Not only are the trees in bloom and the weather in the 70s, but Duke and UNC are playing in the NCAA tournament. With three ACC teams within 15 miles of one another, we have some of the best rivalries in the world.
12. World Class Health Care - Between Duke, UNC, and Wake Med in Raleigh, we have some of the best health care facilities in the world.
13. The Balanced Lifestyle - People here work hard and smart, but they generally don't work more than 60 hours per week. Even the people in venture backed companies for the most part aren't working 80+ hour weeks like they do in NY, Boston, Atlanta, and California. This sense of balance is important to a healthy life. It seems the people here are able to build great companies and do other things like raise a family and participate in the community. I think this makes us generally happier people and allows us to burn out a lot less and work more consistently over time, critical factors to a company's success.

So if you're looking to start a company or work for an entrepreneurial venture while being in a dynamic and engaging community and having a great lifestyle for yourself and your family, check out the Triangle area of North Carolina.