CHICAGO, Oct. 15, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- "If you believe that Congress and the President are incompetent when it comes to running the national economy, you should also take a look at your state governor and legislatures. There are governors and legislatures that make our federal leaders look like economic geniuses," says Dr. Ronald R. Pollina, Chairman of the American Economic Development Institute (AEDI) and President of Pollina Corporate Real Estate, Inc.
AEDI and Pollina Corporate co-publish the Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States, recognized as the "Gold Standard" for evaluating the pro-business status of each state and considered the most comprehensive study of all 50 states because it evaluates 32 of the most important economic factors controlled by each state.
If consistency counts, then states that ranked as the Ten Worst States for Business in the AEDI/Pollina Corporate study deserve to be given awards. The annual report found that the lowest ranked states in descending order were Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, Illinois, Wisconsin, California and Rhode Island.
Three states—New Jersey, Rhode Island and California—have been ranked among the worst ten states seven out of the last seven years, with California dead last nine of the last ten years. This year for the first time Rhode Island pushed California out of last position.
Of the other seven states (Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Illinois, and Wisconsin), none has risen above the bottom 15 in five years with the exception of New Hampshire, which ranked 30th in 2010 and freefell to 43rd by 2013. Although not among the bottom ten, Maryland deserves special mention as it dropped from 13th in 2007 to 33rd by 2013, the greatest six-year drop of all states.
"What many of these leaders of states with antibusiness reputations do not realize, or refuse to recognize, is that many of their largest employers are growing their businesses in other more pro-business states or offshore. Many of these jobs could remain at home if only the state leaders made some effort," explains Brent Pollina, Vice President of Pollina Corporate and co-author of the study.
Nine of these worst states for business also ran high budget deficits for fiscal year 2013: Vermont ($51 million), New Hampshire ($250 million), Maine ($454 million), New Jersey ($506 million), Massachusetts ($1.3 billion), Wisconsin ($1.6 billion), Illinois ($1.8 billion), Minnesota ($1.9 billion), and California a whopping $15 billion shortfall.
"You have to ask yourself, if a state is consistently performing at the bottom year after year, who is really at fault? Is it the political leaders of these states," says Dr. Pollina, "Or the citizens who elect and often re-elect them? Shareholders must question the competence of any CEO who continues to expand their business in a state that overtaxes them or does a substandard job of educating their citizens for 21st Century jobs."