SMALL BUSINESSES Pa. ranks better for help

Pennsylvania ranked 22nd and Ohio ranked 40th.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Ohio languished near the bottom while Pennsylvania ranked in the top half in a state-by-state index ranking efforts to produce a welcoming climate for small business and entrepreneurs.
The Small Business Survival Committee, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit small-business advocacy group with headquarters in Washington, D.C., issued its sixth annual Small Business Survival Index this week.
Ohio was listed 40th in the ranking, while Pennsylvania was ranked 22nd.
Raymond J. Keating, SBSC chief economist and author of the study, said the ranking offers a gauge to measure and compare how government in the states treat small businesses and entrepreneurs.
He said the index ties together 17 major government-imposed or government-related costs impacting small businesses and entrepreneurs across a broad spectrum of industries and types of businesses.
Items included in the rankings include personal income taxes, capital gains taxes, corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, death taxes, unemployment taxes, health insurance taxes, electricity costs, workers' compensation costs, crime rates, right-to-work status, number of bureaucrats, tax limitation status, Internet taxes, gas taxes, and state minimum wages.
Generally, Keating said, the most conducive environment for small businesses and entrepreneurs has low taxes and limited government.
Best and worst states: The five most entrepreneur-friendly states, ranked according to the index, are Nevada, South Dakota, Washington, Wyoming, and Florida.
Those ranked among the five with the most anti-entrepreneur policy environments are Minnesota, Kansas, Maine, Hawaii, and Rhode Island.