Once again Connecticut has managed a poor showing in a national poll to determine which states are most business-friendly. This time it”™s Chief Executive magazine”™s Best and Worst States for Business 2010 survey, which ranked Connecticut as 45th best for business. The survey asked 651 CEOs from across the nation to draw on their direct experience with the states in making their judgments.
The good news is that Connecticut came out slightly ahead of Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. The bad news is that we dropped seven places from last year.
Sometimes we get criticized by state legislators for making too much of these rankings. They suggest that we make matters worse by highlighting bad news. So as a little test, I decided not to write about the Chief Executive survey as soon as I read about it. I wanted to wait and see if I would hear about it from others. It didn”™t take long. Within a day, five people brought the story to my attention.
Unfortunately, access to these reports is not limited to Connecticut businesspeople. They are read around the country and the world, dampening interest in our state as a place for business investment and job creation.
Everyone concerned about Connecticut should take our economic condition to heart and work together to find solutions. The blame game that some in our state engage in ”“ claims that businesses don”™t pay their fair share of taxes or don”™t take care of their employees ”“ not only spreads misconceptions and fails to solve problems but drives our rankings lower in survey after survey. The stakes are too high to let that pattern continue; the 2011 legislative session must reflect a different mind-set. Let”™s hope it does.
Joe Brennan is senior vice president of public policy at the Connecticut Business and Industry Association in Hartford.
