As the recession continues to drone on, stilted consumer spending coupled with restricted (and in many cases nonexistent) credit markets have made it rough going for numerous small businesses and start-ups. At such times, seeking shelter in a business-friendly environment, can mean the difference between success and failure, growth or stagnation.
Virginia is Pollina Corporate's pick for top pro-business state
Though there are several, often-quoted studies that attempt to classify which states are the most small business-friendly, the truth is that any such measure is subjective. What makes one state more business-friendly than another really depends on the type of business, industry, or stage of development under consideration.
The following are the results of a few studies conducted this year broken down into several key categories: tax environment, the cost of living, the quality and education of the local workforce, the number of healthcare mandates, and finally a state’s overall business-friendliness.
Tax Environment
According to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council’s 2009 Business Tax Index, the top ten state tax systems are:
1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Wyoming, 4) Washington, 5) Texas, 6) Florida, 7) Alaska, 8 ) Colorado, 9) Alabama, 10) Ohio
While the worst state tax systems are:
40) Nebraska, 41) Idaho, 42) Massachusetts, 43) Vermont, 44) Rhode Island, 45) Iowa, 46) New York, 47) California, 48) Maine, 49) Minnesota, 50) New Jersey, and 51) District of Columbia.
The Cost of Living
According to CNBC’s study on the best and worst places to do business in 2009, the states with the lowest cost of living are:
1) Oklahoma, 2) Arkansas, 3) Georgia, 4) Tennessee, 5) Kansas, 6) Missouri, 7) Texas, 8 ) South Dakota, 9) Alabama, and 10) Kentucky.
The states with the highest cost of living are:
41) New Hampshire, 42) Rhode Island, 43) Connecticut, 44) Vermont, 45) New Jersey, 46) Maryland, 47) New York, 48) Alaska, 49) California, and 50) Hawaii.
Workforce
The CNBC study also conducted a survey of workforce quality among the different states. Here are the top ten:
1) Georgia, 2) North Carolina, 3) Florida, 4) Tennessee, 5) Arizona, 6) South Carolina, 7) Idaho, 8 ) Virginia, 9) Utah, and 10) Kansas.
The bottom ten include:
41) Illinois, 42) Connecticut, 43) Pennsylvania, 44) Wisconsin, 45) Maine, 46) Ohio, 47) Hawaii, 48) West Virginia, 49) Alaska, and 50) New York.
Healthcare Mandates
According to the Small Business Survival Index 2008, conducted by the Small Business Entrepreneurship Council, several states are more lenient in terms of mandated benefits on employer-sponsored health plans, while other states are known for their heavier regulation.
The states with the fewest health mandates include:
1) Idaho, 2) Alabama, 3) Dist. of Columbia, 4) Hawaii, 5) Utah, 6) Delaware, 7) Iowa, 8 ) Michigan, 9) Ohio, and 10) Vermont
Those with the most healthcare mandates are:
41) Connecticut, 42) New Mexico, 43) Nevada, 44) Maine, 46) Washington, 47) Texas, 48) New York, 49) Virginia, 50) Maryland, and 51) Minnesota.
All Arounders
Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc. recently published a study to determine the top ten pro-business states for 2009. The comprehensive study involved 33 factors including taxes, human resources, right-to-work legislation, energy costs, infrastructure spending, workers compensation laws, economic incentive programs and state economic development efforts.
The top ten states are: 1) Virginia, 2) Utah, 3) North Carolina, 4) Wyoming, 5) South Carolina, 6) South Dakota, 7) Kansas, 8 ) Georgia, 9) Florida, and 10) Nebraska.