SOME REAL COMERS AMONG THE MIDSIZE U.S. CITIES
By Stuart Gannes

(FORTUNE Magazine) – ''This is the place,'' declared Brigham Young as he gazed at the spectacular site of Salt Lake City in the 1840s. In the 1990s increasing numbers of FORTUNE 500 companies may make the same choice about Salt Lake, Memphis, and other attractive midsize cities across the nation. The old magnets for industry -- deepwater harbors, railroads, proximity to natural resources -- are not so dominant. What are becoming more significant are such city characteristics as being a telecommunications center and air transport hub, and having a well-educated work force. Superheated growth is already going on in Orlando, Florida, and Charlotte, North Carolina -- both on their way to achieving major-city status and both feeling some strain on labor supply, highways, and the cost of doing business. Large companies seeking to move operations -- or to start new ones -- are looking at dozens of new places. Among those heading FORTUNE's list:

-- Salt Lake City. Its low cost of living and educated labor force make the city a strong Western alternative to bigger Denver and Phoenix. Utah ranks first nationally in percentage of high school graduates qualified to take the Advanced Placement college exams. Salt Lake has become an important telecommunications center: Eastern and Delta airlines, Fidelity Investments, Sears, and J.C. Penney have all set up telephone-based service operations. Holiday Inns located a 450-person reservations center in Salt Lake after considering every Western city with a population over 400,000. Says reservations chief Robert Salmon: ''People are hungry to work here and they like the idea of working for a major corporation. I get 15 to 20 walk-ins per day.'' -- Memphis. One of the big success stories of the South, Memphis is likely to join Atlanta as a major distribution center. New arrivals include Kraft Foods, Sara Lee, and Williams-Sonoma. International Paper chose Memphis over Atlanta and Dallas as the base for much of its top management. Now Memphis wants a landmark in keeping with its Egyptian namesake: The city has broken ground for a $57 million, 32-story stainless-steel pyramid on the Mississippi that will house a 20,000-seat basketball arena and an American music museum. -- Indianapolis. Once a typical Midwest manufacturing town dominated by a few large companies -- Eli Lilly, Western Electric, RCA -- the city today is home to dozens of diversified service businesses. Telecommunications is increasingly important. American Express and Charles Schwab are both opening telephone centers this year. Low cost of living, relatively modest taxes, and short commutes make central Indiana appealing to workers. -- Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. These two cities, 20 miles apart, are attractive to companies with large back offices now based in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington. Northeastern Pennsylvania has inexpensive housing and one of the country's lowest crime rates. With unemployment still over 6%, employers can easily recruit high-quality workers. The region is rapidly becoming the home for many large data-processing shops. Big employers include Prudential Asset Management, J.C. Penney, and Nabisco. -- Buffalo. This Rust Belt relic is a sleeper. While it's not high on most executive's location list currently, ''We think it's ripe for a resurgence,'' says Karen Gerard, vice president at Moran Stahl & Boyer. ''All the infrastructure that cities like Charlotte and Orlando are trying to build is here.'' There's a strong work ethic, and the city benefits from proximity to Canada: Dozens of Canadian companies have set up Buffalo offices.