OAKTON, Va., Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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." (Access the SBSI 2009 report and map of the states by visiting http://sbecouncil.org/survivalindex2009/.)

The Index helps business owners, investors and lawmakers understand the public policy burdens placed on entrepreneurship and small business in the states, and ranks them accordingly.

SBE Council chief economist Raymond J. Keating, author of the study, said: "Policy matters to the growth and success of small business. 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.

In terms of their policy environments, the 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. In contrast, the 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. Complete rankings are found on the website at www.sbecouncil.org.

SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business advocacy group that works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit www.sbecouncil.org.

Contact: Raymond J. Keating
631-909-1122, or 703-242-5840
Mabel Vaught, mvaught@sbecouncil.org

SOURCE Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

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