Wisconsin ranks 29th in the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council in the 2013 “Small Business Policy Index 2013: Ranking the States on Policy Measures and Costs Impacting Small Business and Entrepreneurship,” which was released today.
The index ranks the 50 states according to 47 different policy measurements, including a wide array of tax, regulatory and government spending measures.
The states that have the most entrepreneur-friendly policies in the index are: 1) South Dakota, 2) Nevada, 3) Texas, 4) Wyoming, 5) Florida, 6) Washington, 7) Alabama, 8) Indiana, 9) Ohio, 10) Utah, 11) Michigan, 12) North Dakota, 13) Arizona, 14) Colorado, and 15) Virginia.
In contrast, the states with the least friendly policy environments for small businesses are: 40) Rhode Island, 41) Connecticut, 42) Oregon, 43) Iowa, 44) Maine, 45) Minnesota, 46) Hawaii, 47) New York, 48) Vermont, 49) New Jersey, and 50) California.
SBE Council president and chief executive officer Karen Kerrigan said: “Policy reforms that bolster small business startup and growth are mostly being implemented at the state level. Unfortunately, federal policy and uncertainty remains an overall negative for entrepreneurs and small businesses. But states vary widely in terms of their policy approaches. The top states on the Small Business Policy Index 2013 are streamlining government and lifting burdens like excessive taxation and regulation. They are passing responsible budgets, and living within their means. The worst ranked states keep treating small businesses and entrepreneurs as piggy banks to fund higher spending and bankrupt programs.”
Kerrigan added: “Governors and state leaders who are serious about improving their entrepreneurial ecosystems are aggressively working to change policies that are harming entrepreneurship and business growth. The White House needs to closely examine what the most successful states are doing to help entrepreneurs. These pro-growth policies, if enacted at the federal level, would make a major difference for U.S. economic growth and competitiveness.”
Raymond Keating, SBE Council’s chief economist and author of the study, said, “This study is straightforward and well documented. The Small Business Policy Index 2013 is built on sound, clear-cut economics, as understood in Economics 101 and evidenced by the many studies cited in the Index. Quite simply, the states are compared and ranked according to how state and local government policies impact costs and incentives for entrepreneurship and investment. In turn, such risk taking is critical to economic growth, income growth and job creation.”
