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Also, "business friendliness" is actually different from "best states for business". Business friendliness generally refers to things like regulatory burden, easy of starting a business, and generally whether government skews toward business.

In the CNBC rankings, business friendliness is only one component of the score. Things that you'd think a liberal government would prioritize constitute 5 of the 10 criteria. Specifically:

Workforce -- Many states point with great pride to the quality and availability of their workers, as well as government-sponsored programs to train them. We rated states based on the education level of their workforce, as well as the numbers of available workers.

Quality of Life -- The best places to do business are also the best places to live. We scored the states on several factors, including local attractions, the crime rate, health care, as well as air and water quality.

Infrastructure -- Access to transportation in all its modes is key to getting your products to market and your people on the move. We measured the vitality of each state’s transportation system by the value of goods shipped by air, land and water.

Education -- Education and business go hand in hand. Not only do companies want to draw from an educated pool of workers, they want to offer their employees a great place to raise a family. Higher education institutions offer companies a source to recruit new talent, as well as a partner in research and development. We looked at traditional measures of K-12 education including test scores, class size and spending. We also considered the number of higher education institutions in each state.

Innovation -- Succeeding in the new economy—or any economy—takes innovation. The top states for business prize innovation, nurture new ideas, and have the infrastructure to support them.

by Falls Church on Sep 6, 2012 2:23 pm • link • report