The Small Business Survival Committee (SBSC) has released its sixth annual rankings of the states according to their respective policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship in the Small Business Survival Index 2001.
The index ties together 17 major government-imposed or -related costs impacting small businesses and entrepreneurs across a spectrum of industries and types of businesses-personal income taxes, capital gains taxes, corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, death taxes, unemployment taxes, health insurance taxes, electricity costs, worker compensation costs, crime rates, right to work status, number of bureaucrats, tax limitation status, Internet taxes, gas taxes, and state minimum wages. These measures are combined into one index number: the Small Business Survival Index.
The most entrepreneur-friendly states under the index for 2001 are: 1) Nevada, 2) South Dakota, 3) Washington, 4) Wyoming, 5) Florida, 6) Texas, 7) New Hampshire, 8) Alabama, 9) Mississippi, 10) Tennessee, 11) Colorado, 12) Michigan, 13) Illinois, 14) Alaska, and 15) Virginia. In contrast, the most anti-entrepreneur policy environments are offered by: 37) New Jersey, 38) Montana, 39) Iowa, 40) Ohio, 41) West Virginia, 42) Vermont, 43) New York, 44) California, 45) New Mexico, 46) Minnesota, 47) Kansas, 48) Maine, 49) Hawaii, 50) Rhode Island, and 51) District of Columbia.
SBSC chief economist Raymond J Keating, author of the study, concludes: “The best policy environment for entrepreneurship consists of low taxes, limited government, restrained regulation, and government protecting life, limb, and property. States following such a governing philosophy will reap great rewards from America's entrepreneurs, including faster economic growth and increased job creation.”
For a copy of the index, access www.sbsc.org.