Innovation Scorecard

From Consumer Electronics Association April, 2015

OVERVIEW

America is founded on choice, including the choice of where to live, innovate and prosper. Entrepreneurs and business owners in the U.S. have a choice when they decide to start new businesses ventures – 51 of them, really. Do they set up shop in a state with a strong talent pool, a favorable tax system and a track record of encouraging small business, or do they surrender to the laws and regulatory structure of their home state?

The license to innovate, the flexibility to hire qualified workers in science and engineering, and freedom from burdensome taxes and regulatory structures are key factors for entrepreneurs and business owners deciding where to establish roots. But what makes a state a champion of business innovation?

To recognize and account for favorable and unfavorable policy actions and business environments at the state level, CEA created its inaugural Innovation Scorecard, a first-of-its-kind innovation performance index based on 10 criteria. States overall performance is divided into four overall categories – Innovation Champions, Innovation Leaders, Innovation Adopters and Modest Innovators.

• Innovation Champions offer ready-made environments for innovators and entrepreneurs; when these states must choose between the status quo and innovation, they nearly always follow the path of innovation.

• Innovation Leaders foster and explore new, groundbreaking ways to advance the innovation economy.

• Innovation Adopters feature key elements that facilitate success, but need boost their policies to welcome new businesses.

• Modest Innovators need improvements in several policy and other foundational criteria to better create an environment for innovative companies to thrive

read ... Full Report

MODEST INNOVATORS

Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia

A combination of notable anti-innovation policy choices, slow Internet connectivity and below-median rankings of tech jobs per capita, push many of these states to the bottom of the scorecard. However, as a group, these states scored remarkably well on entrepreneurial activity; eight of the 11 ranked above the national median for new business creation and startup success. While this scorecard focused on the relative ranking of states, it is worth noting that even Modest Innovator states would likely score extremely well as compared to jurisdictions in nearly every other country in the world. The United States continues to be the focus of business innovation globally and this scorecard seeks to encourage states to build on that legacy and maintain that long-term competitive advantage.

Hawaii - Modest Innovator

• Right to Work F
• Welcomes New Business Models –
• Tax Friendliness B
• Entrepreneurial Activity B+
• Fast Internet C
• Tech Workforce* D
• Attracts Investment* D
• Grants STEM Degrees* C
• Innovation Momentum B
• Innovation-Friendly Sustainable Policies – Modest Innovator

*Denotes grades calculated on a per capita basis