WASHINGTON, Dec. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Today, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) released its 19th annual “Small Business Policy Index 2014: Ranking the States on Policy Measures and Costs Impacting Small Business and Entrepreneurship.”
The Index ranks the 50 states according to 42 different policy measures, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending measurements.
“Policies clearly affect the environment for investment, entrepreneurship and small business growth. In order to compete for capital, business and human capital, many Governors and state legislatures are pushing forward with policies to improve their tax and regulatory climates. This competitive policy environment is a big plus for small business. States like Arizona, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, and Ohio have really stepped up their game on the policy front. In each of these cases, tax reform and relief were undertaken, which reduces the costs of risk taking and doing business. Meanwhile, top-tier policy states like Texas, Nevada, South Dakota, Florida and Wyoming continue to leverage their long-standing policy advantage, and are doing things to get even better,” said SBE Council President and CEO Karen Kerrigan.
The most entrepreneur-friendly states under the “Small Business Policy Index 2014” are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Texas, 4) Wyoming, 5) Florida, 6) Washington, 7) Alabama, 8) Indiana, 9) Colorado, 10) North Dakota, 11) Ohio, 12) Arizona, 13) Utah, 14) Michigan, and 15) Virginia.
In contrast, according to the Index, the most negative policy environments for entrepreneurs are: 40) Rhode Island, 41) Connecticut, 42) Maine, 43) Iowa, 44) Oregon, 45) Vermont, 46) Minnesota, 47) Hawaii, 48) New York, 49) New Jersey, and 50) California.
The “Small Business Policy Index 2014” can be read and downloaded here, with an interactive map on SBE Council’s website here.
Raymond J. Keating, SBE Council’s chief economist and author of the study, noted, “The Small Business Policy Index provides the most comprehensive comparison of state policies that affect entrepreneurship, small business and investment. And make no mistake, tax, regulatory, government spending and other governmental performance and cost measures matter state by state. Consider that when it comes to economic growth, population growth, and shifts in population among the states, for example, the top 25 states on the Index perform, on average, far better than the bottom 25 states.”
SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy, research and education organization that works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship. For more that twenty years, SBE Council has worked to advance policies and initiatives that help to strengthen the ecosystem for U.S. entrepreneurship. Please visit: www.sbecouncil.org. Twitter: @SBECouncil
Contact: Raymond J. Keating
631-909-1122 or 703-242-5840
Email rkeating@sbecouncil.org
SOURCE Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
