For Immediate Release
Contact: Raymond J. Keating
202-785-0238 or 631-909-1122

Washington, D.C.-The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) has released its eleventh annual rankings of the states according to their public policy climates for small business and entrepreneurship in the "Small Business Survival Index 2006."

According to SBE Council chief economist Raymond J. Keating, author of the study, "In politics, talk is cheap, and everybody talks about how much they love small business.  The ‘Small Business Survival Index 2006' moves past the rhetoric to actually rank the states according to the policies implemented in terms of taxes, regulation, spending, and other governmental costs affecting the entrepreneurial sector of our economy."

SBE Council CEO and President Karen Kerrigan added, "The ‘Small Business Survival Index' is notable for its breadth.  The measures included in the Index touch businesses of all types - from the home-based consultant to the venture capitalist to technology companies to manufacturing firms.  State policymakers need to pay attention for the sake of their own state's competitiveness and economy.  On November 7, voters will be casting their ballots on many initiatives that impact the environment for business. From tax hikes to minimum wage increases, voters need to ask whether these measures will actually help or hurt in driving jobs, business opportunities, and investment to more business-friendly states."

Added to the "Small Business Survival Index" for 2006 are three new measures - two government spending indicators and one looking at how the states protect private property.  Kerrigan noted: "These additions to the Index are important and make sense.  Small business owners are concerned about the size and growth of government, which, for example, directly affect current and future taxes.  In addition, government's first duty is to protect private property, but as we have seen with the U.S. Supreme Court's infamous Kelo decision, small businesses and homeowners are at risk of government taking, rather than protecting, property."

The Index analyzes 29 major government-imposed or government-related costs affecting small businesses and entrepreneurs.  These measures are added together to compute an overall rating.  The entire report is available on our website.

Keating noted: "The ‘Small Business Survival Index' allows states to be compared in terms of, for example, their tax, spending, regulatory, and litigation burdens.  As explained in the study, economic common sense and a large body of economic literature show that these policies matter to entrepreneurs, businesses, employees and therefore, to the overall economic well-being of each state."

In terms of their policy environments, the most entrepreneur-friendly states under the "Small Business Survival Index 2006" are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Wyoming, 4) Alabama, 5) Washington, 6) Florida, 7) Mississippi, 8) Colorado, 9) Texas, 10) Michigan, 11) South Carolina, 12) Indiana, 13) Tennessee, 14) Virginia, and 15) Arizona.  In contrast, the most anti-entrepreneur policy environments are offered by the following: 37) West Virginia, 38) Ohio, 39) Oregon, 40) North Carolina, 41) Iowa, 42) Vermont, 43) Massachusetts, 44) Hawaii, 45) New York, 46) Minnesota, 47) Maine, 48) Rhode Island, 49) California, 50) New Jersey and 51) District of Columbia.    Complete rankings are found below.

Keating added: "It needs to be recognized that countless issues play into human decision-making. But governmental costs among the states will have an impact on where people live, work and start up businesses.  For example, from 2000 to 2005, the top 25 states on the Small Business Survival Index netted a 2.14 million increase in population at the expense of the bottom 25 states plus the District of Columbia. It also should not be surprising that job growth has come in much faster in the states in the top half versus those in the bottom half on the Index.  From July 2003 to July 2006, for example, job growth registered 5.3% in the top 25 states in the Index, compared to 3.4% in the bottom 25 and the District of Columbia.  That means that the rate of job creation was 71% faster in the top 25 states versus the lower 25 states and D.C."

For a copy of the "Small Business Survival Index 2006," visit SBE Council's website at http://www.sbecouncil.org/. SBE Council can be contacted at 202-785-0238. SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business advocacy group headquartered in Washington, D.C. that works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship.

Following are the complete state rankings for the "Small Business Survival Index 2006":

Small Business Survival Index 2006: State Rankings

# # #