The Beaches of South Dakota

Well the Milken Institute (based in California) is out with its annual 50 state "Cost of Doing Business Index." This index seeks to rank all 50 US states using - labor wage costs, taxes, electricity costs and real estate costs for industrial and office space - to determine the overall cost of doing business in a given state.

The full report can be found at --

http://www.milkeninstitute.org/research/research.taf?cat=indexes&function=detail&ID=29&type=CDB

So if you entrepreneurs out there want to open your business in the three most expensive states for doing business in the USA so you can guarantee you will earn the least amount of profit possible which states should you consider moving to?

1. Hawaii
2. New York
3. Alaska

On the other hand if you want the best chance of making a profit than consider relocating to the home of Mount Rushmore -- South Dakota which was ranked again at number 50. Given the fact that South Dakota borders my State of Minnesota I would hope our legislative leaders note this report although this cost of doing business differential between our two states have existed for several years already.

If any readers are doing business in Hawaii, New York, or Alaska today I would love to hear from you in terms of the Milken Institute's rankings - are they accurate and if so what are your political leaders doing to reduce the cost (costs that simply are paid by consumers at the end of the day) of doing business?

Surf's up in Sioux Falls!!

Todd