South Dakota Rated Friendliest State for Entrepreneurship
A ranking released recently by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship
Council (SBEC), a small business advocacy group, rated South Dakota
as the state with the most friendly policies toward small businesses,
followed in order by Nevada, Wyoming, Washington State and Florida.
The 2004 Small Business Survival Index ranked each state based
on over twenty key costs that affect small business and entrepreneurship.
In addition to statistics like crime rates and relative size of
state and local governments, the index measured such costs as health
care expenses, worker’s compensation premiums and numerous
types of tax rates. The index did not, however, attempt to measure
any services paid for by state and local taxes.
The District of Columbia came in dead last in the index, placing
51st on the list. The next five states found to be least friendly
to small business were California, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Minnesota,
and Maine. Other rankings of the most populous U.S. states include
Texas (11), New York (45), Illinois (19), Pennsylvania (12), Ohio
(40), Michigan (6).
In its report, the SBEC claimed that the best environment for
entrepreneurship and small business generally involves low taxes,
limited government and restrained regulation. It said its rankings
are borne out by national economic trends such as population growth,
which it said has been much faster in states that rank in the top
half of the index compared to the bottom half. It also stated that
out of the top ten states with the fastest-growing personal income
from 1993-2003, eight fell in the top half of the index, while
seven of the ten slowest-growing states landed in the bottom half.
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