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IS TENNESSEE "BUSINESS FRIENDLY?"
August 16, 2004 -
August 22, 2004
Competition among states for business growth and relocation has never been more intense. Much of the attention on economic development at the state and local level focuses on companies that relocate - and the jobs they bring with them. But the real engine of economic growth is the expansion of existing companies, big and small, that already do business here.
A large company choosing to move from California to Tennessee may get the headlines, but the hundreds of small businesses across the state who each add a couple of people to their payrolls are equally - if not more - important to Tennessee's future. The business climate that causes companies to move to Tennessee or enables them to grow their businesses in Tennessee is critical to our competitiveness with other states. So, just how "business friendly" is the State of Tennessee?
Several groups have compared the tax structures, levels of governmental interference, and regulatory burden on businesses in the states over the last couple of years. The Small Business Survival Committee (www.sbsc.org) has prepared an annual index of small business "survivability" for the past 8 years.
Last year, Tennessee ranked 7th in the nation in the Small Business Survival Index, which analyzed 21 different government-imposed or related costs affecting small business. Among the items relevant to a high "business friendly" ranking are low taxation levels, limited government, restrained regulation, affordable and accessible energy sources, protection of property rights and public safety issues. The states ranking higher than Tennessee were (1) South Dakota, (2) Nevada, (3) Wyoming, (4) New Hampshire, (5) Florida, and (6) Texas. The most anti-small business states in the ranking include the District of Columbia, Hawaii, California and New York.
The Tax Foundation (www.taxfoundation.org) also prepares an annual report that looks more specifically at the tax burdens imposed in the states as a guide to "friendliness." In their 2003 State Business tax Climate Index, Tennessee ranked 10th in the country and well ahead of all of our neighboring states: Kentucky (35th), Georgia (25th), Alabama (16th), Mississippi (50th) and Arkansas 48th.
Specific forms of tax burdens were relevant to the overall Tax Foundation rankings. For example, in regards to state and local tax burden Tennessee has been among the lowest for the past 14 years. Estimated at 8.5% of income today, Tennessee's state/local tax burden stands at 47th in the nation and well below the national average of 10%.
The Tax Foundation also looked to property taxes as an indicator of a climate conducive to business and found that Tennessee ranked 41st among the states in local government property tax collections. The fact that Tennessee does not currently collect a state-level property tax makes our low overall property tax burden another attractive reason to do business in Tennessee.
The Tax Foundation also looks to Tax Freedom Day as indicative of a "business friendly" state. That is the date when taxpayers finally earn enough money to pay their total tax bill - federal, state and local. In 2004 that day came for Tennesseans on April 1, which is one of the earliest dates among the states. In fact only Alaska beat us, with a Tax Freedom Day of March 26. Neighboring states with which we compete for new business all had higher tax burdens and later Tax Freedom days than Tennessee.
The objective standards by which a state may be ranked as "business friendly" all put Tennessee in good posture. Intangibles are also important, however. In some ways, Tennessee is a mixed bag in that analysis. Some factors add to our business friendly climate, things like easy access to most consumers in the United States due to our beneficial geographic proximity; others detract, like the cost and confusion related to the TennCare healthcare system and the fact that we do not have a world-class reputation with our public institutions of higher education.
Overall, however, it is clear that Tennessee is "open for business." To insure that we retain and expand our advantages we need to elected people at every level of government who understand the importance of giving business the best opportunity to compete by imposing as few barriers to success as possible. But it is also important for our leaders to understand that "ribbon cuttings" for big relocations are not nearly as important as fostering a business climate that helps existing small companies and new entrepreneurial businesses grow and prosper. Their little success stories may not grab the headlines, but collectively they are what keeps Tennessee, and Tennesseans, working and achieving the American dream.
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16 WORDS -
August 9, 2004 -
August 15, 2004
They were just sixteen words. They were spoken by the President in the 2003 State of the Union Address. "The British government," he said, "has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
In making his case for pre-emptive war against Iraq, the statement by President Bush was only a small portion of the rationale underlying the decision. The information indicated that Saddam Hussein was proceeding with efforts to develop nuclear weapons... |
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FACTS AND FIGURES WILL UNDERCUT FUTURE INCOME TAX PUSH -
August 2, 2004 -
August 8, 2004
During the income tax wars in recent years the pro-tax crowd regularly pointed to Tennessee's revenue figures as evidence of the need for an income tax. Yet the same media outlets that so breathlessly reported the revenue "facts" to justify an income tax have suddenly gone silent as new numbers are released month after month that prove their arguments to have been nothing but hot air. The latest tax collection figures were released late last week and revealed that collections for May, 2004 were... |
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A TRUE HERO GIVES HIS ALL FOR HIS COUNTRY -
July 19, 2004 -
July 25, 2004
The words "hero" and "patriot" get bandied about a lot these days. Seldom are they applied to those who truly measure up to the words. Pat Tillman did not just measure up to those words, he defines them.
Two years ago Pat Tillman was a star football player for the NFL's Arizona Cardinals. In 2000 he had 224 tackles, a team record. He had a $3.6 million dollar contract. He had fame. He had a new wife and a community that revered him as a "hero" on the football field. He was a "celebrity... |
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WILL THE POLITICAL DOMINOES FALL? -
July 26, 2004 -
August 1, 2004
Many political analysts are concluding that Tennessee will not be competitive enough between Bush and Kery to place it amond the battleground states in the 2004 presidential race. Since Al Gore could not carry Tennessee in 2000 it is reasoned that a more liberal version from Massachusets will fare more poorly among the state's voters. And with no gubernatorial or senate elections to motivate voters, many politicians and pundits are beginning to look ahead to 2006 -- when Tennessee could see seve... |
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