Hawaii 42nd in Small Business Survival

Hawai'i Free Press

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Hawaii 42nd in Small Business Survival
By News Release @ 2:24 PM :: 10332 Views :: Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) today released its 14th annual rankings of the states according to their public policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship in the "Small Business Survival Index 2009: Ranking the Policy Environment for Entrepreneurship Across the Nation."

SBE Council chief economist Raymond J. Keating, author of the study, said: "It's hard to find any good news at the national level for entrepreneurs, small business and their employees. The U.S. economy slipped into a recession in December 2007, with matters getting far worse late last year. Congress and the White House have not offered positive solutions to help the job-creating sector. In fact, most of their actions will hurt, not help, small businesses. But what about the states? The ‘Small Business Survival Index' helps business owners and investors understand the public policy burdens placed on entrepreneurship and small business, with the states ranked accordingly."

Keating continued: "Policy matters. Most politicians talk a good game when it comes to small business, but their actions don't often match their rhetoric. The ‘Small Business Survival Index' gets at the public policy costs and trends that affect - directly or indirectly - entrepreneurship and small businesses. These measures should matter to everyone because small businesses, of course, drive innovation, economic growth and job creation. If we want to get our economy back on a solid, robust growth track, then we need pro-entrepreneur policies at the federal, state and local levels."

The "Small Business Survival Index" is the most comprehensive measure of which states are truly friendly to small business, and which are not in terms of public policy decisions. The factors included in the Index - taxes, various regulatory costs, government spending, property rights, health care and energy costs, and much more - matter a great deal to the competitiveness of each state and to the well being of small business.

The 2009 Index has been expanded to cover 36 major government-imposed or government-related costs affecting small businesses and entrepreneurs. The measures are added together for an overall rating.

Top-Ten entrepreneur-friendly states under the "Small Business Survival Index 2009" are:

1) South Dakota, *2) Nevada, *3) Texas, *4) Wyoming, *5) Washington, *6) Florida, *7) South Carolina, *8) Colorado, *9) Alabama, and *10) Virginia.

Bottom-Ten include:

42) Hawaii, *43) Minnesota, *44) Massachusetts, *45) Rhode Island, *46) Maine, *47) Vermont, *48) New York, *49) California, *50) New Jersey and *51) District of Columbia.

Small Business Survival Index 2009: State Rankings

''Rank / State / SBSI Score

1 South Dakota 25.693
2 Nevada 31.348
3 Texas 32.082
4 Wyoming 37.069
5 Washington 42.955
6 Florida 45.284
7 South Carolina 48.001
8 Colorado 48.250
9 Alabama 48.823
10 Virginia 50.843
11 Ohio 51.250
12 Alaska 51.554
13 Tennessee 51.855
14 Utah 52.404
15 Indiana 52.602
16 Arizona 52.803
17 North Dakota 53.044
18 Missouri 53.277
19 Mississippi 53.439
20 Georgia 53.781
21 Oklahoma 53.868
22 Kentucky 54.877
23 Michigan 55.383
24 Illinois 55.983
25 Arkansas 56.006
26 Kansas 57.813
27 Pennsylvania 57.847
28 New Mexico 58.101
29 Louisiana 58.111
30 Wisconsin 58.800
31 Montana 59.041
32 Idaho 61.705
33 New Hampshire 61.995
34 Nebraska 62.143
35 Delaware 62.775
36 West Virginia 63.689
37 Maryland 64.342
38 Oregon 65.179
39 North Carolina 65.497
40 Connecticut 66.627
41 Iowa 67.485
42 Hawaii 68.454
43 Minnesota 72.149
44 Massachusetts 72.515
45 Rhode Island 73.339
46 Maine 74.699
47 Vermont 75.717
48 New York 76.940
49 California 77.749
50 New Jersey 84.730
51 Dist. of Columbia 84.795

LINK TO >>> "Small Business Survival Index 2009"