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CEOs Weigh in on Best, Worst States to Do Business Texas, Nevada, North Carolina Top List as Best States; California, New York, Michigan Are the Worst MONTVALE, NJ--(MARKET WIRE)--Jan 22, 2008 -- While much of the nation's focus is jumping
from state to state during the presidential primary race,
CEOs did their
own "state-jumping," ranking the best and worst states to
do business. In
an annual polling by Chief Executive magazine, CEOs ranked
the states with
no income tax as the top two states for business -- Texas
and Nevada -- and
those highly-regulated states as the worst two -- California
and New York.
These same states have been ranked as the best and worst
two states to do
business in for the past three years.
Both the top third and worst third spots experienced a change this year. North Carolina, replacing Florida, returned to the third place after coming in fourth last year. Michigan, home of the struggling auto industry, took the worst third state spot, replacing Massachusetts. Chief Executive's fourth annual "Best & Worst States" survey was conducted right after the New Year, and asked 605 top executives to evaluate their states on a broad range of issues, including proximity to resources, regulation, tax policies, education, quality of living and infrastructure. Providing additional insight to the evaluations, CEOs were also asked to grade each state based on the following criteria: 1) Taxation & Regulation, 2) Workforce Quality, and 3) Living Environment. "Overall, the message CEOs are sending is that over-taxed and over-regulated states are not conducive to the health of their businesses," said Ed Kopko, CEO and Publisher, Chief Executive Group. "This is the message they've been communicating since our poll started in 2005. However, in states like California and New York, where we are increasingly facing a shrinking population, the message seems to have fallen on deaf ears, as CEOs continue to be extremely frustrated with the business-unfriendly practices in these states." HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SURVEY Texas: Texas scored strong in each of the three categories: It received an "A-" in the Taxation & Regulation category and a "B+" in the other two categories. Comments Voicing the positive sentiment of many respondents, Charles Hannabarger, President and CEO of PSI Associates, said, "Texas has a strong economy with a diversified economic base. The cost of living is low and the quality of life is very good. The attitude and capabilities of the workforce are outstanding!" Nevada, North Carolina: Nevada and North Carolina also performed strongly: Nevada got an "A" for Taxation & Regulation, but received a "B-" in Workforce Quality and a "B" for Living Environment. North Carolina got a "B+" for Taxation & Regulation and Workforce Quality and an "A-" for Living Environment. Comments Though very supportive of low taxes, CEOs criticized the status of the education system in low tax states and called for improved public school system and better infrastructure. Florida: In an interesting twist, Florida, the third best state in last year's polling, plummeted this year to the tenth best state on concerns over its education system and workforce quality. Florida, which is widely seen as an important stronghold in presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani's campaign for the White House, received a "B-" for Workforce Quality and a "B+" in the other two categories. Comments General consensus among Florida CEOs was that the government should cut income and property taxes. Additionally, CEOs called on the state government to put in place programs that encourage more professionals to move into the state and better educate the local talent. California: California was ranked as the worst of all states to do business. It received a "D" in Taxation & Regulation, and a "B-" in both the Workforce Quality and Living Environment categories. Comments Voicing the sentiments of the majority of CEOs in California, John Keffala, President of Forbes Business Plan Advisors, said, "California continues to be a tough state to do business in." The main concerns cited by California-based CEOs were high taxes, over regulation, illegal immigration and cost of living. New York: Notorious for onerous legislation and high taxes, New York scored similarly to California in Taxation & Regulation category, receiving a "D," while getting a "B-" for the Workforce Quality and a "C-" for its Living Environment. New York has additional significance this year, as main competitors for the presidency from each party, Rudy Giuliani for the Republicans and Hillary Clinton for the Democrats, are from the Empire State. Comments Similar to California, the majority of CEOs in New York called for lower taxes, less regulation and less government spending as well as more business-friendly policies. Additionally, CEOs were very vocal about their discontent with New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, indicating that he had done nothing to improve conditions for businesses in NY since he took office. Some CEOs went as far to say that the "Governor is a liability" and "has a hostile image toward business." Massachusetts: The home state of former Governor Mitt Romney, Republican presidential hopeful, was ranked as the fourth worst state for business. Like New York, Massachusetts got a "D" and a "B-" for Taxation & Regulation and Workforce Quality, respectively. It performed relatively stronger than New York in the Living Environment category, receiving a "C+." Comments Massachusetts-based CEOs, voicing similar sentiments as their counterparts in the other two worst states, called for lower income taxes, bringing the state's stance on social and civil policies closer to the center, as well as more programs for small businesses. For additional information regarding the confidence of public- and private-company CEOs, visit our full report at http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ceoindex. ABOUT CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAGAZINE Chief Executive is a controlled circulation magazine that has been published since 1977. It reaches 42,000 chief executive officers and their peers, reaches a total readership of 228,000. Chief Executive Group facilitates "Chief Executive of the Year," a prestigious honor bestowed upon an outstanding corporate leader, nominated and selected by a group of his or her peers. Robert Ulrich, A. G. Lafley, George David, Fred Smith, Bill Gates, John Chambers, Michael Dell and Sandy Weill are just some of the leaders who have been honored during the award's 22-year history. Chief Executive also organizes roundtable meetings and conferences to foster opportunities for top corporate officers to discuss key subjects and share their experiences within a community of peers. Visit www.chiefexecutive.net for more information. Best and Worst States for Business: January 2008 Best States Rank 2008 Rank 2007 Rank 2006 Texas 1st 1st 1st Nevada 2nd 2nd 2nd North Carolina 3rd 4th 3rd Virginia 4th 9th 7th Arizona 5th 5th 5th Florida 10th 3rd 4th Worst States Rank 2008 Rank 2007 Rank 2006 California 51st 51st 51st New York 50th 50th 50th Michigan 49th 47th 48th Massachusetts 48th 49th 49th New Jersey 47th 46th 46th Biggest Gainers Positions Gained Oregon 14 Alabama 11 Ohio 8 Vermont 8 Biggest Losers Positions Lost New Mexico 13 Wisconsin 11 Connecticut 10 State CEO Rank Growth Rank Texas 1 15 Nevada 2 2 North Carolina 3 12 Virginia 4 10 Arizona 5 3 Tennesse 6 27 Georgia 7 25 Indiana 8 46 South Carolina 9 36 Florida 10 6 Delaware 11 13 Alabama 12 17 Colorado 13 16 New Hampshire 14 32 Utah 15 5 Idaho 16 1 Iowa 17 20 South Dakota 18 30 North Dakota 19 26 Missouri 20 44 Oklahoma 21 18 Minnesota 22 31 Montana 23 11 Kansas 24 29 Wyoming 25 40 Kentucky 26 37 Oregon 27 4 Nebraska 28 33 New Mexico 29 7 Washington 30 14 Alaska 31 39 Maryland 32 22 Rhode Island 33 43 Ohio 34 50 Maine 35 34 Vermont 36 28 Arkansas 37 23 Hawaii 38 8 Pennsylvania 39 48 District Of Columbia 40 19 West Virginia 41 47 Connecticut 42 24 Illinois 43 45 Wisconsin 44 42 Mississippi 45 49 Louisiana 46 38 New Jersey 47 41 Massachusetts 48 35 Michigan 49 51 New York 50 21 California 51 9 Contact: Contacts:
Robin Uhl
Chief Executive Magazine
201-476-5505
Email Contact
Sanuber Bilguvar
MWW Group
212-827-3764
Email Contact
Source: Chief Executive Magazine
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