Glad to see that Texas made the Top Fifteen in a new ranking of states for being conducive (or not) to small business. And not surprised to see some familiar locales occupying the bottom of the list.
Today, the Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) released its eight annual rankings of the states according to their respective policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship in the "Small Business Survival Index 2003."Posted by Alan at September 26, 2003 09:07 PMIn terms of their policy environments, the most entrepreneur-friendly states under the "Small Business Survival Index 2003" are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Wyoming, 4) New Hampshire, 5) Florida, 6) Texas, 7) Tennessee, 8) Washington, 9) Michigan, 10) Mississippi, 11) Alabama, 12) Colorado, 13) Illinois, 14) Virginia, and 15) Indiana.
In contrast, the most anti-entrepreneur policy environments are offered by the following: 37) North Carolina, 38) Montana, 39) Ohio, 40) West Virginia, 41) Iowa, 42) Oregon, 43) New Mexico, 44) Vermont, 45) New York, 46) California, 47) Rhode Island, 48) Maine, 49) Minnesota, 50) Hawaii, and 51) District of Columbia.
According to SBSC chief economist Raymond J. Keating, author of the study, "The 'Small Business Survival Index 2003' compares how governments in the states treat small businesses and entrepreneurs. Since small business serves as the backbone of the U.S. economy—for example, by providing the bulk of new jobs and being a font of innovation—every state and local lawmaker should be concerned with how their policies impact small business."
SBSC president Darrell McKigney added, "With small businesses creating some three-quarters of all net new jobs, everyone has an interest in knowing if their state’s government stands behind its small businesses – or is standing in the way."
via SBSC, including full report (pdf)
Thanks to Townhall's C-Log for the tip