CEOs Weigh in on Best, Worst States to Do Business

MONTVALE, NJ, Jan 22 (MARKET WIRE) --
While much of the nation's focus is jumping from state to state during the
presidential primary race, CEOs did their own "state-jumping," ranking the best
and worst states to do business. In an annual polling by Chief Executive
magazine, CEOs ranked the states with no income tax as the top two states for
business -- Texas and Nevada -- and those highly-regulated states as the
worst two -- California and New York. These same states have been ranked as the
best and worst two states to do business in for the past three years.

Both the top third and worst third spots experienced a change this year.
North
Carolina, replacing Florida, returned to the third place after coming in fourth
last year. Michigan, home of the struggling auto industry, took the worst
third state spot, replacing Massachusetts.

Chief Executive's fourth annual "Best & Worst States" survey was conducted
right
after the New Year, and asked 605 top executives to evaluate their states on a
broad range of issues, including proximity to resources, regulation, tax
policies,
education, quality of living and infrastructure. Providing additional insight to
the
evaluations, CEOs were also asked to grade each state based on the following
criteria: 1) Taxation & Regulation, 2) Workforce Quality, and 3) Living
Environment.

"Overall, the message CEOs are sending is that over-taxed and over-regulated
states are not conducive to the health of their businesses," said Ed Kopko,
CEO and Publisher, Chief Executive Group. "This is the message they've been
communicating since our poll started in 2005. However, in states like
California and New York, where we are increasingly facing a shrinking
population, the message seems to have fallen on deaf ears, as CEOs continue to
be extremely frustrated with the business-unfriendly practices in these
states."

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SURVEY

Texas: Texas scored strong in each of the three categories: It received an
"A-" in the Taxation & Regulation category and a "B+" in the other two
categories.

Comments

Voicing the positive sentiment of many respondents, Charles Hannabarger,
President and
CEO of PSI Associates, said, "Texas has a strong economy with a diversified
economic base. The cost of living is low and the quality of life is very
good. The attitude and capabilities of the workforce are outstanding!"

Nevada, North Carolina: Nevada and North Carolina also performed strongly:
Nevada
got an "A" for Taxation & Regulation, but received a "B-" in Workforce
Quality and a "B" for Living Environment.

North Carolina got a "B+" for Taxation & Regulation and Workforce Quality
and an
"A-" for Living Environment.

Comments

Though very supportive of low taxes, CEOs criticized the status of the
education system in low tax states and called for improved public school system
and better infrastructure.

Florida: In an interesting twist, Florida, the third best state in last
year's
polling, plummeted this year to the tenth best state on concerns over its
education system and workforce quality. Florida, which is widely seen as an
important stronghold in presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani's campaign for the
White
House, received a "B-" for Workforce Quality and a "B+" in the other two
categories.

Comments

General consensus among Florida CEOs was that the government should cut
income and property taxes. Additionally, CEOs called on the state government
to put in place programs that encourage more professionals to move into the
state and better educate the local talent.

California: California was ranked as the worst of all states to do business.
It received a "D" in Taxation & Regulation, and a "B-" in both the Workforce
Quality and Living Environment categories.

Comments

Voicing the sentiments of the majority of CEOs in California, John
Keffala,President of Forbes Business Plan Advisors, said, "California continues
to
be a tough state to do business in." The main concerns cited by
California-based CEOs were high taxes, over regulation, illegal
immigrationand cost of living.

New York: Notorious for onerous legislation and high taxes, New York
scoredsimilarly to California in Taxation & Regulation category, receiving a
"D,"while getting a "B-" for the Workforce Quality and a "C-" for its Living
Environment.

New York has additional significance this year, as main competitors for
thepresidency from each party, Rudy Giuliani for the Republicans and Hillary
Clinton
for the Democrats, are from the Empire State.

Comments

Similar to California, the majority of CEOs in New York called for lower
taxes,
less regulation and less government spending as well as more business-friendly
policies.

Additionally, CEOs were very vocal about their discontent with New York
Governor Eliot Spitzer, indicating that he had done nothing to improve
conditions
for businesses in NY since he took office. Some CEOs went as far to say
that the "Governor is a liability" and "has a hostile image toward business."

Massachusetts: The home state of former Governor Mitt Romney, Republican
presidential hopeful, was ranked as the fourth worst state for business. Like
New
York, Massachusetts got a "D" and a "B-" for Taxation & Regulation and Workforce
Quality, respectively. It performed relatively stronger than New York in the
Living Environment category, receiving a "C+."

Comments

Massachusetts-based CEOs, voicing similar sentiments as their counterparts
in the
other two worst states, called for lower income taxes, bringing the state's
stance on social and civil policies closer to the center, as well as more
programs for small businesses.

For additional information regarding the confidence of public- and
private-company CEOs, visit our full report at
http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ceoindex.

ABOUT CHIEF EXECUTIVE MAGAZINE

Chief Executive is a controlled circulation magazine that has been published
since 1977. It reaches 42,000 chief executive officers and their peers, reaches
a total readership of 228,000. Chief Executive Group facilitates "Chief
Executive of the Year," a prestigious honor bestowed upon an outstanding
corporate
leader, nominated and selected by a group of his or her peers. Robert
Ulrich, A. G. Lafley, George David, Fred Smith, Bill Gates, John Chambers,
Michael Dell and Sandy Weill are just some of the leaders who have been
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officers to discuss key subjects and share their experiences within a community
of peers. Visit www.chiefexecutive.net for more information.

Best and Worst States for Business: January 2008

Best States Rank 2008 Rank 2007 Rank 2006
Texas 1st 1st 1st
Nevada 2nd 2nd 2nd
North Carolina 3rd 4th 3rd
Virginia 4th 9th 7th
Arizona 5th 5th 5th
Florida 10th 3rd 4th

Worst States Rank 2008 Rank 2007 Rank 2006
California 51st 51st 51st
New York 50th 50th 50th
Michigan 49th 47th 48th
Massachusetts 48th 49th 49th
New Jersey 47th 46th 46th

Biggest Gainers Positions Gained
Oregon 14
Alabama 11
Ohio 8
Vermont 8

Biggest Losers Positions Lost
New Mexico 13
Wisconsin 11
Connecticut 10

State CEO Rank Growth Rank
Texas 1 15
Nevada 2 2
North Carolina 3 12
Virginia 4 10
Arizona 5 3
Tennesse 6 27
Georgia 7 25
Indiana 8 46
South Carolina 9 36
Florida 10 6
Delaware 11 13
Alabama 12 17
Colorado 13 16
New Hampshire 14 32
Utah 15 5
Idaho 16 1
Iowa 17 20
South Dakota 18 30
North Dakota 19 26
Missouri 20 44
Oklahoma 21 18
Minnesota 22 31
Montana 23 11
Kansas 24 29
Wyoming 25 40
Kentucky 26 37
Oregon 27 4
Nebraska 28 33
New Mexico 29 7
Washington 30 14
Alaska 31 39
Maryland 32 22
Rhode Island 33 43
Ohio 34 50
Maine 35 34
Vermont 36 28
Arkansas 37 23
Hawaii 38 8
Pennsylvania 39 48
District Of Columbia 40 19
West Virginia 41 47
Connecticut 42 24
Illinois 43 45
Wisconsin 44 42
Mississippi 45 49
Louisiana 46 38
New Jersey 47 41
Massachusetts 48 35
Michigan 49 51
New York 50 21
California 51 9

Contacts:
Robin Uhl
Chief Executive Magazine
201-476-5505
Email Contact

Sanuber Bilguvar
MWW Group
212-827-3764
Email Contact

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