North Dakota Named One of "America's Most Pro-Business States

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North Dakota was named one of "America's most pro-business states", according to the Pollina Corporate Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2011 study released Monday. The study, considered the most comprehensive, unbiased and unvarnished by the economic development industry, is the "Gold Standard" for evaluating and ranking states.

North Dakota was this year's most improved state in business rankings, climbing in the rankings from #18 to #3 in the last three years.

Data points:

Top 10 Pro-Business States for 2011 are:

1. Virginia
2. Utah
3. North Dakota
4. Wyoming
5. Nebraska
6. Kansas
7. South Dakota
8. Missouri
9. South Carolina
10. Indiana

More information here.

The study is based on 32 factors controlled by state government, including taxes, human resources, education, right-to-work legislation, energy costs, infrastructure spending, workers compensation laws, economic incentive programs and state economic development efforts. Two new factors - state budget deficit and state property tax index - along with a comprehensive State Report Card have been added to this year's study.